Baby, baby!
If Carroll Gardens is a village, then I am the village idiot...
I bumped into my friend Betsy on Smith Street the other day. I had not seen her since she had her baby a year ago. You know how time passes between baby naps, bottles, diapers, new jobs, i'll call you's and I am on vacation, but when I get backs...
So we hugged and kissed. I cooed over the lovely little girl chewing her foot in the stroller. I looked up at Beth, exhilirated with the excitement of seeing my college friend who still looked as mischevious as she was back then, now a mommy. She had her hair up in an impromptu bun, her eyes looked a bit tired. She was wearing flip flops, a random pair of pants and had pulled a large white shirt over her head. She looked good!
She was skinny as ever, but I did notice the bulge on her tummy. And because every other friend of mine is pregnant, because everyone in Park Slope and on Smith street is pregnant, and because some people I know are onto their second children, I put my hand on Betsy's tummy. (C'mon, we're old friends!) I gave it a nice rub for a few milliseconds to make her eyes flare a "What the hell?" in my direction.
Unaware of my inappropriate behavior, I took it up a notch: "Are you expecting a second one??" Betsy looked startled, "No, I just have not lost all the baby weight yet..."
I think I apologized 30 times over, non-stop. I blamed it on the wind that was blowing her t-shirt and giving me the illusion of a tummy. But the damage was done. Betsy, who at age 20 was convinced that she had wrinkles under her eyes, was irrepairably hurt. " I am sensitive about this stuff," she said as she tried to switch topics. "I knoooowwwwww," I wanted to wail.
With one stupid sentence, uttered without thought or any drop of self-control, there were two of us there chewing on their foot.
I bumped into my friend Betsy on Smith Street the other day. I had not seen her since she had her baby a year ago. You know how time passes between baby naps, bottles, diapers, new jobs, i'll call you's and I am on vacation, but when I get backs...
So we hugged and kissed. I cooed over the lovely little girl chewing her foot in the stroller. I looked up at Beth, exhilirated with the excitement of seeing my college friend who still looked as mischevious as she was back then, now a mommy. She had her hair up in an impromptu bun, her eyes looked a bit tired. She was wearing flip flops, a random pair of pants and had pulled a large white shirt over her head. She looked good!
She was skinny as ever, but I did notice the bulge on her tummy. And because every other friend of mine is pregnant, because everyone in Park Slope and on Smith street is pregnant, and because some people I know are onto their second children, I put my hand on Betsy's tummy. (C'mon, we're old friends!) I gave it a nice rub for a few milliseconds to make her eyes flare a "What the hell?" in my direction.
Unaware of my inappropriate behavior, I took it up a notch: "Are you expecting a second one??" Betsy looked startled, "No, I just have not lost all the baby weight yet..."
I think I apologized 30 times over, non-stop. I blamed it on the wind that was blowing her t-shirt and giving me the illusion of a tummy. But the damage was done. Betsy, who at age 20 was convinced that she had wrinkles under her eyes, was irrepairably hurt. " I am sensitive about this stuff," she said as she tried to switch topics. "I knoooowwwwww," I wanted to wail.
With one stupid sentence, uttered without thought or any drop of self-control, there were two of us there chewing on their foot.
posted by Mimi Media @ 10:24 AM
2 Comments:
At 3:52 PM,
Lisa Wines said…
I did the same thing...on a job interview. I still cringe when I think about it. I think the only good thing is that once you do it, you'll never ever make that mistake again. sigh.
I found you while researching this e-coup in Turkey. I'm an American in Paris experiencing Al Jezeera/BBC for the first time. wow - real news for a change?
Your writing is extremely engaging. I enjoy it very much. Thanks!
At 6:16 AM,
Anonymous said…
hello babe
you know, 4 months after Nil was born I had someone offer me a seat on the metro because they thought i was pregnant:) and i'm sure i've done it to at least a couple of people by mistake too...we ALL do it, even those of us who have already been through post-pregnancy.
catching up on your column after a long time--work has been crazy but it's finally calming down.
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