Thursday, August 17, 2006

Are You Adopted!?!


Frequently I get the question "are your kids adopted?"  This, of course, comes from complete strangers that walk up to me in a store or something like that.  So, I don't worry about the fact that they don't know my wife and if they did the question would be stupid.  I ignore that, yes my children have Asian features, but they also have brown hair, and in one case curly.  These features are very common amongst the indigenous Asian peoples of England and where ever the heck the rest of my ancestors are from. 

What gets me is that this seems like a really person question.  It is one of those questions that if you don't know the answer, you shouldn't ask.  You don't even have to know me even.  Just see me with my wife!  Just be observant for a few minutes and the question will answer itself. 

Another thing that gets me is that the question is totally racist.  Because my daughter has darker skin and almond shaped eyes she is automatically a Chinese orphan.  I understand that there are a lot of Chinese babies that are adopted here, but my brown headed daughters are not them.  I would never walk up to an homogenous couple at the mall/Wal-Mart, tell them how beautiful their children are and then ask them if they were adopted. 

How the heck are my kids supposed to feel!?!?

My wife never gets this question.  I guess it is acceptable for her to be carrying around half-breeds.

Oh, Asian people know immediately that the kids are mixed.  Maybe their slanty little eyes pick up on the fact that they are not very dark and that they have brown hair.  Us white folks big round eyes can not focus in enough to get that detail.

4 comments:

Jody said...

A friend of mine was standing in line at a grocery store. She had her kids, which are half black and half white, and she was babysitting her sister's kids for the day, who are full caucasian. Totalled, there were 5 kids.
A man walked past her and snorted, "NICE family planning..."

I can't believe the nerve of some people. You just don't know a person's story or situation!

Carrie Nichols said...

It seems to me that the more ignorant the person the more nerve they have!!

Anonymous said...

kind of like asking a girl when she is expecting to give birth only to find out that she is not actually pregnant. oops.

Stealth said...

People always ask me if my middle child is mixed "GIIIRRRRLLLL...I KNOW Dat Baby's got some black in her"

Okay people...RUDE!!! Her little brother is less than 12 mos apart from her and has the same ringlets only pale skin. It's called one line of Cherokee, and one line that goes back to the vikings.

I get dirty looks all the time from older white couples when I am alone shopping at Wal Mart hell.