Teaching Mom a Lesson

A few weeks ago (or maybe a month or two ago?), Jacob and I were in the drive-through at McDonalds. I guess I should back up a bit and start this by telling you a little about growing up as an asian person in a very un-asian community.

I haven't known many asian people. There just weren't many asian people around where I grew up, so it's possible I was one of the only asian people some of my classmates had met at that point in life. As a result, I've been told I look like just about any female asian person who has ever appeared on television. Kristi Yamaguchi? Connie Chung? Margaret Cho? Yes, yes, and yes. Do any of them look at all alike? Not in my opinion. Do I look like any of them? Not at all.

So back to McDonalds. Jacob watched the last season of The Sing Off with us. His favorite group was Afro Blue. As you can guess, most of the singers were black. As we approached the window, Jacob said, "That girl looks like a singer from Afro Blue!"

I looked. I saw no resemblance to any of the singers from Afro Blue.

Um.

Me: Why do you think that?

Jacob: Because she looks like a singer from Afro Blue.

Me: Um.... Are you saying that because they have a similar skin color?

Jacob: (Very patiently, the way you speak to someone who's a little slow...) No, I'm saying it because she looks like one of the singers from Afro Blue.

Me: (Still not seeing any resemblance at all) You know, sometimes people think people look alike just because two people might have something in common. Like people think Auntie Anne and I look alike because we're both asian. Do you think we look alike?

Jacob: No. (With a definite "duh" tone thrown in)

Me: Well, a lot of people do just because we're asian. A lot of people sometimes get confused when people have similar traits so they just decide they look the same. I was wondering if maybe you thought that about the person in the window.

Jacob: Mom. (A little exasperated by now) It doesn't matter. We are all part of the same big family. We are all God's children!

How do you respond to that? He definitely had me there. I should have known better.... I assumed he was only seeing color, which is something Jacob would never do. He is the most wonderfully color/size/status-blind kid ever. He truly only sees people. When Jacob's classmates occasionally make fun of or don't like another kid for reasons we as jaded adults see as obvious (not that we think it's right), Jacob is clueless about why the kids wouldn't like someone. He doesn't notice someone's weight, he doesn't notice someone's clothing, he doesn't notice if someone is "cool" or not. He forms his opinions based on how much fun someone is, if they're nice to him, and they only get bonus points for things like being able to talk Star Wars or  knowing funny knock-knock jokes.

How did I end up with such a cool kid? He is such a good person. I hope he never changes!