Work Thy Brain Before Working Thy Mouth

At the end of a draining day, on my way out, this Japanese-American girl who works on the floor stopped me in my tracks. I've always liked her. She's cute, and one of the few who are not afraid to say "hi" first. (I am not one of the few.)

I couldn't hear her at first. She repeated herself.

"Do you have kids?" She asked. "I've been meaning to ask you."

Oh, no. Not again. That dreaded, probing question that leads to other dreaded, probing questions.

And why has she "been meaning to ask" me? Curious.

After my negative answer, she goes, "Husband?"

OMG. Are you for real?

"No," i was already exhausted.

"So you're single?" She continued. Oh, how did you deduce that, my dear? Kudos!

"Very much so," I replied. The boy behind her kinda chuckled.

I need to quickly turn the table, i thought. "How 'bout you, single?" I asked.

"I have a boyfriend," she said. "Do you want to have kids?"

Give it up, lil sista! I gave the usual "probably not", and i could see she was gonna keep going at it, so i mumbled something along the lines of "You're too young to even think about kids", and bailed.

And i'm too old, kiddo.

This makes her the third person who has interrogated me on the subject at this store. What gives?

Denisse tells me she's been targeted a lot, too. And she's only 27! Stealthy and persistent, these folks. According to Denisse, apparently, most don't seem to consider this line of questioning invasive.

How can that be? I could think of a dozen reasons not to get personal on this topic. For one, as I have mentioned on this blog before, I could be barren.

Not just barren. Barren from uterine scarring by sexual abuse. With a metal shoehorn.

(Yes, this is a Sybil reference. Fascinating read.)

C'mon, people! Think!