Babies

Last week I hooked up with Louise for breakfast in Cottesloe. Since she is not working right now, it is pretty easy to talk her into going out, as long as she doesn't pay. It was nice to catch up with her.

On our way into the cafe, she ran into a friend of her's who just had a baby. The new mother had the baby in a pram (baby carriage) all wrapped up from the chill. Since I know nothing about kids and babies, I said nothing as Louise cooed and did all the "what a beautiful baby" stuff. Finally, I figured it would be impolite of me to not at least acknowledge the kid. So I asked the mom, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

The mom just looked at me in silence for a minute. She blinked her eyes in shock and said "Boy babies had penises and girl babies have vaginas. Can't you tell it is a boy? It That is why I put a blanket with blue dots on it. If it was a girl, I would have used a pink blanket."

Well excuse me for not undressing your kid to determine the gender. Yes, I know how girls and boys are different. True, I had not noticed the subtle color difference in the blanket. I try to not make assumptions based on stereotypes, so even if I had noticed, I would not have assumed anything more than it was simply a blue blanket. Perhaps next time you take the baby out, draw a beard and mustache on him so you won't be offended by questions like mine.

Louise aplologized for me later. She explained that her friend is a medical doctor and throws terms about like 'penis' and 'vagina' like nothing. Plus, she is a new mom, which I assume means they are hyper-sensitive about anything that might be interpreted as negative about their baby. Perhaps she interpreted my question as "Your baby boy sure is feminate!"

One more reason to avoid people with babies. Frankly, I don't care what their gender is. They are all the same for the first year any how. Nothing but screaming poop machines. And they look really old and weird too.

I guess there is some truth to the old joke: "Q: Why are babies so cute? A: So you won't kill them".