1865

THIS is a conversation i had at work the other day with a very old man-patient:

"Bay (that means babe) you know what i saw the otha' day that jus really turned my stomach?"

"No, sir... what did you see?" (at this point, i actually already knew where this conversation was going to go...)

"Bay, i went into Langlois' grocery, and i saw this pretty white lady. and she had nice skin and a fair complexion and curly blonde hair..."

"Yes, sir...?"

"and on her arm she had..." (he looked around the room and whispered) "a colored man..."

"Oh, that's how the world is today, Mr. Cajun" (like i said before, i knew this is how this conversation was going to go, and names have been changed to protect identities)

"and she was parading him around the store like she was PROUD of him or something. she was a pretty white lady, she could have a white man"

"well mr. cajun... she probably LOVES him. that is how the world is today."

"but you neva see that around HERE... but my wife told me i had better not say nothin because i have some granddaughters, and we never know what they will do."

"that's very true... you never know who they will fall in love with..." at which point i changed the subject because i knew it was very possible for either of us to say something very offensive to the other... and seeing how he is a patient, i didn't think a knock-out-drag-down fight with a 100 year old in the middle of the clinic would be a great idea. i actually forget there is racism here at times, and then i have a conversation like this that reminds me it is alive and well in certain individuals. when we had our lunch break, i told my coworkers and said "there are actually people like that still out there?!" apparently, there are, but i have met many more people who are not.