Last week Squishy, my mom, and I went down to Atlantic City to do some stuff before the gnome's wedding (more on this soon) when Squishy would obviously need to leave and be there. It was stupidly hot out, but we did our wandering about, and had fun, and Squishy got a bit spooked for no reason, though admitted to enjoying herself.
We grabbed some ice cream for the long walk up the boardwalk, and back to the car, though it wasn't enough to keep Squishy or my mom from melting in the heat. While on the walk though, a younger girl actually stopped me to compliment my makeup. Considering that I don't do the standard full beat most people do, I appreciated her noticing as she walked past.
As she took a few steps away though, I heard ma quietly say in the most demeaning tone "Aw, the little hooker likes your makeup" as though she wasn't even a person.
And I stopped her, in the sun, with my daughter right there.
I told her that I didn't know what she did for a living, and I didn't care. It was a compliment from one human to another, and if she was a sex worker, it didn't make her any less than any other person.
She looked at me grumpily, and started walking. Squishy gave me a quick hug before telling me she was too melted, and we moved along too.
As I caught up and matched stride again, I also reminded her that sex workers have to depend on their appearance to make money, so if she was one, it would mean that her compliment had even more meaning behind it.
And ma stopped. She looked at me, laughed, and agreed as that processed.
I still don't think she listened to all of what I told her, but at least a bit of it, and that more than I had expected.
We grabbed some ice cream for the long walk up the boardwalk, and back to the car, though it wasn't enough to keep Squishy or my mom from melting in the heat. While on the walk though, a younger girl actually stopped me to compliment my makeup. Considering that I don't do the standard full beat most people do, I appreciated her noticing as she walked past.
As she took a few steps away though, I heard ma quietly say in the most demeaning tone "Aw, the little hooker likes your makeup" as though she wasn't even a person.
And I stopped her, in the sun, with my daughter right there.
I told her that I didn't know what she did for a living, and I didn't care. It was a compliment from one human to another, and if she was a sex worker, it didn't make her any less than any other person.
She looked at me grumpily, and started walking. Squishy gave me a quick hug before telling me she was too melted, and we moved along too.
As I caught up and matched stride again, I also reminded her that sex workers have to depend on their appearance to make money, so if she was one, it would mean that her compliment had even more meaning behind it.
And ma stopped. She looked at me, laughed, and agreed as that processed.
I still don't think she listened to all of what I told her, but at least a bit of it, and that more than I had expected.
Comments
Post a Comment