"I never theen though many black people!"

[_KimberlyAnn]

Two years ago, my family went to Washington D.C. at Christmastime. It was a fantastic trip. We stayed in Georgetown at the Savoy Suites. It was a beautiful hotel. We got to see the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. The Candlelight Christmas tour at Mt. Vernon was lovely. We visited dozens of historical sites, including Arlington National Cemetery where my great uncle is buried.

We went to the Smithsonian Museums and met with our Senator, Jim Inhofe. He is a client of Tom's, so the senator sent an aide to show us around the Capitol and the Supreme Court, which was very kind of him. We also met him and his wife and several other senators at Old Ebbits Grill, right across from the White House. It was an accidental meeting. They were on their way to a White House Christmas Party but took a few minutes to have coffee with us. It was a thrill to sit with them, though I felt very out of place. They were dressed to the nines and we were in jeans and sweaters, toting four tired and cranky kids. Still, it was a nice evening.

But of all the wonderful things we did, my kids liked riding the Metro the best. The subway system was really neat. We took it almost everywhere we went and caught cabs when needed.

On the second day of our trip the then six year-old Chloe was standing near me on the subway. I was asking her to sit, but she was mesmerized by the goings on around her. It was fairly quiet in the subway car so most folks heard her when she exclaimed, "I never theen though many black people!" Oh, my goodness. It was TRUE. We live in an Eastern Oklahoma suburb on the edge of a golf course. I think there is one black child in Chloe's school. I wish it weren't that way, but it is. Chloe hadn't ever seen so many black people! Still, I felt like crawling under my seat. I was so embarrassed. But that was only the beginning.

Chloe looked right at the black folks across the aisle and said, "I can hip hop danth!" And so she did. Hip Hopped right there on the subway, and to my utter mortification, she ended by pounding her small, probably sticky fist against her chest, waggled two chubby little fingers in a sideways "V" and said, with all appropriate seriousness, "Peath Out!"

The people in the subway car started cracking up. They were laughing. Hard. I cannot overstate my relief.

We won't forget our trip to Washington D.C. or Chloe's subway dance. It's one of my favorite memories of that Christmas. Well, along with seeing the original Kermit and Mr. Rogers's sweater at the Smithsonian.



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[_ajax18]

Well I guess you'll just have to move to Memphis to see what its like to live around a lot of black people. I think everybody should.

[_bcspace]

Grew up in a white neighborhood in Dallas but was involved in a program to bus white students to black schools so in my elementary school years were about 70% black, 30% white. I did speak the lingo back then.