Today we were at Panera for lunch. The boys had their usual — broccoli cheddar soup, multigrain baguette, and chocolate milk. We all had a great time. We were cleaning up our table and getting ready to leave. K & O were having a lot of fun helping Braydon put everything into the trash container. They were running back-and-forth between our table and the trash, while Braydon and I carefully monitored their every move on either end. The restaurant was packed and there were several full tables in between K & O’s table-to-trash-and-back-route. In the middle of this was a table where two women and three children were seated. They were all white, and it appeared to be two moms having lunch out on a Saturday with their kids, who ranged in age from about 9-12, two boys and a girl. I was standing within earshot of their table and this is what I overheard:
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Kid #1, a boy, about age 10 [pointing at Kyle and Owen]: “Look! There are two brown kids. And two white people.”
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[Kid #2 and Kid #3 are now staring at K & O, Mom #1 and Mom #2 are pretending to not hear Kid #1 and are pretending to not notice what the other two kids are now staring at]
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Kid #1 [louder now]: “There are two brown kids. And two white people.”
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[Kid #2 and Kid #3 continue to stare at K & O, Mom #1 and Mom #2 continue to pretend to not hear or notice what the three kids are doing]
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Kid #1 [really loud now, loud enough for everyone around to hear]: “There are two brown kids! With two white people!”
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[Kid #2 and Kid #3 continue to stare at K & O, Mom #2 continues to pretend to not hear or notice]
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Mom #1 [with her pointer-finger pressed up to her lips]: “Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
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Kid #1 [really, really loud now]: “There are two brown kids! With two white people!”
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Mom #1 [with her pointer-finger really exaggeratedly pressed up to her lips]: “I said Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!“
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Kid #1 now silent.
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