Why I Want a Wife

Why I Want a Wife: SATIRE

Why I Want a Wife- Judy Brady (Syfers)

READ THE FOLLOWING:

I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am A Wife.
And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother.

Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh
from a recent divorce. He had one child, who is, of course, with his
ex-wife. He is looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I
was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that 1, too, would
like to have a wife. Why do I want a wife?
I would like to go back to school so that I can become economically
independent, support myself, and, if need be, support those dependent
upon me. I want a wife who will work and send me to school. And while I
am going to school, I want a wife to take care of my children. I want a
wife to keep track of the children's doctor and dentist appointments. And
to keep track of mine, too. I want a wife to make sure my children eat
properly and are kept clean. I want a wife who will wash the children's
clothes and keep them mended. I want a wife who is a good nurturant
attendant to my children, who arranges for their schooling, makes sure
that they have an adequate social life with their peers, takes them to
the park, the zoo, etc. I want a wife who takes care of the children when
they are sick, a wife who arranges to be around when the children need
special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school. My
wife must arrange to lose time at work and not lose the job. It may mean
a small cut in my wife's income from time to time, but I guess I can
tolerate that. Needless to say, my wife will arrange and pay for the care
of the children while my wife is working.

I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs. I want a wife
who will keep my house clean. A wife who will pick up after my children,
a wife who will pick up after me. I want a wife who will keep my clothes
clean, ironed, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that
my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what
I need the minute I need it. I want a wife who cooks the meals, a wife
who is a good cook.  I want a wife who will plan the menus, do the
necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them pleasantly, and
then do the cleaning up while I do my studying. I want a wife who will
care for me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time
from school. I want a wife to go along when our family takes a vacation
so that someone can continue to care for me and my children when I need a
rest and change of scene.
I want a wife who will not bother me with rambling complaints about a
wife's duties. But I want a wife who will listen to me when I feel the
need to explain a rather difficult point I have come across in my course
studies. And I want a wife who will type my papers for me when I have
written them.

I want a wife who will take care of the details of my social life.
When my wife and I are invited out by my friends, I want a wife who will
take care of the baby-sitting arrangements. When I meet people at school
that I like and want to entertain, I want a wife who will have the house
clean, will prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and
not interrupt when I talk about things that interest me and my friends. I
want a wife who will have arranged that the children are fed and ready
for bed before my guests arrive so that the children do not bother us. I
want a wife who takes care of the needs of my guests so that they feel
comfortable, who makes sure that they have an ashtray, that they are
passed the hors d'oeuvres, that they are offered a second helping of the
food, that their wine glasses are replenished when necessary, that their
coffee is served to them as they like it. And I want a wife who knows
that sometimes I need a night out by myself.

I want a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs, a wife who makes
love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who makes sure
that I am satisfied. And, of course, I want a wife who will not demand
sexual attention when I am not in the mood for it. I want a wife who
assumes the complete responsibility for birth control, because I do not
want more children. I want a wife who will remain sexually faithful to me
so that I do not have to clutter up my intellectual life with jealousies.
And I want a wife who understands that my sexual needs may entail more
than strict adherence to monogamy. I must, after all, be able to relate
to people as fully as possible.
If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the
wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with
another one. Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; my wife will
take the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am left free.

When I am through with school and have a job, I want my wife to quit
working and remain at home so that my wife can more fully and completely
take care of a wife's duties.

My God, who wouldn't want a wife?

Author: Judy Brady (Syfers)ANSWER THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR BLOG

1. Does this essay have an explicitly stated thesis? If so, what is it? If you believe the thesis is implied, paraphrase it in your own words.

I really believe that the message that the author is actually saying is definitely not the message she is trying to get across.  She is talking about how she wants someone to do this for her, but I believe that she really is just stating what men want women to do for them. 

 2. Throughout the essay, Brady repeats the words “I want a wife.” What is the effect of this repetition?

I believe that she is repeating those words, because she wants people to know that a wife (woman) are expected to do all the things she is saying.  It's aher way of expressing the fact that a good wife is almost required to do these things.

3. Do you think Brady really wants the kind of wife she describes—does this ideal spouse

actually exist? Explain why you think Brady wrote this essay.

I think she wrote this essay to show how unrealistic it is to have a perfect wife.  As she talks about all the things a wife is "supposed" to do, she seems like she is making the point that it truely is impossible to find someone that can or really will want to do all those things.  I definitely don't think Brady wants to be this kind of wife. 

4. How does Brady define what it means to be a “wife”? How does she organize the many services a wife provides her husband and family? What do you think of Brady’s characterization of a wife and her responsibilities? How do you think she wants her readers to respond to this characterization? Why?Brady organizes a wife's duties around what the husband would need to live a great life.  She doesn't really talk about what the wife does for herself to live a comfortable life. 

5. Write a letter to Brady responding to “I Want a Wife.” Let her know what you admire or don’t admire about the essay and the extent to which you consider it effective and/or persuasive.

Dear Ms. Brady,

I actually really like this article.  It makes me think of a song by Tammy Wynette called Stand By Your Man. 

Sometimes its hard to be a woman
Giving all your love to just one man
You'll have bad times
And he'll have good times
Doing things that you don't understand

But if you love him you'll forgive him
Even though he's hard to understand
And if you love him
Oh be proud of him
'Cause after all he's just a man

Stand by your man
Give him two arms to cling to
And something warm to come to
When nights are cold and lonely

Stand by your man
And tell the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man

Stand by your man
And show the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man

The song makes fun of how men feel like they don't have to stay true to one woman, but how they feel like women need to be faithful to one man. I really like how you are showing the double standard set by men.  I really think this article is a call to action for woman, to first of all not be the perfect wife and do all these things, but also to change the sterotype that men have set for women. 

I admire the fact that during such a time when people were not really talking about Woman's Rights, you had the courage to speak your mind and share the inequalities you saw.  I also really like how you kind of trick people into thinking you were talking about how women should be more faithful and helpful to men, but really you were writing a political paper discussing the problems in society. 

I don't really know if the people in the 50's understood what you were talking about, but I feel like both men and woman liked your article, but for completely different reasons.  Because men are stupid, I bet they completely agreed with the article and talked about it in the sense that "There's a woman who really knows her place and gets things right in the world!"  The probably all laughed and joked about how they all wished their wives could be as great as you are and then they probably all farted and scratched themselves.  But the woman were most likely empowered by your article, because it truely showed the life that men wanted women to live.  This article said it all black and white.  I'm sure women looked at this article and checked things off the list that they did, not even realizing they were being taken advantage of. 

Thank you for writing this article and revealing to both men and women the true inequalities woman had to face in not only in the 50's but still today.

Sincerely,

Claudia Smith

Satirized Story

Claudia Smith
period 3
2/27/12

Satirized Fairytale

The Three Little Pigs

“Good bye Mother, we’ll miss you!” The three little pigs hollered behind them, waving and smiling, as they left their mother’s house to go and make lives for themselves.

“Be careful,” she cried after them, holding in the tears.  “And don’t talk to any strangers!”

They all left to go their separate ways.

The first pig, walking down the road, came across a man selling straw and decided to built a house with it.  He built a home as lovely as a peacock when it's feathers are spread, and was very happy for many years.  He met a beautiful girl pig, named Miss Piggy and they lived happily ever after.  

The second pig, walking down the road, came across a field of beautiful flowers.  He and his partner, Porky, decide to stop.  They frolicked for hours through the wild daisies and sunflowers.  After a while they became very tired and had to stop and rest.  After a nice rest in the field of flowers, they decided  they would to build a beautiful home out of something they loved and quickly gathered enough flowers to build a whole house.

The third pig, being a girl, was much smarter than the first two and had gotten a job and a college education.  She decided to have a self serving life, before she got married or bought a house.  Finally after a few years she found the man of her dreams.  His name was Wilber and they were in love.  The first thing she had learned in college was to build a strong house, and that was exactly what she planned to do.  She found a man that sold bricks and she and Wilbur built a house that was strong enough to withstand anything.  They lived very happy lives and felt safe and sound. 

One day a big bad wolf was passing through town.

He went up to the house of the first pigs.

 “Little pigs, little pigs, let me in!” the wolf cried.

“Oh no, no, no, please no!” Miss. Piggy wined back at him.

“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!”  The wolf screamed back at them. 

“WOOOOOOOOSH!” and the house went tumbling down. Miss. Piggy and her husband went running to their other brother’s house, the wolf following close behind.

As the wolf approached the second house he shouted again, “Little pigs, little pigs, let me in!”

Miss Piggy, getting more nervous and scared screamed in a high pitch voice, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.”  The wolf replied. 

“WOOOOOSH!” and the house went tumbling down.

Porky, under his breath whispered, “That’s all folks.”

 Little did the wolf know that parts of the house was made of poppies and he fell into a deep sleep, giving the four pigs time to escape to their sister’s house.  When he woke up and got resituated he remembered that he was searching for some the pigs.  He ran to the third pig’s house. 

When he finally got their, he screamed in his most terrifying voice “Little pigs, little pigs, let me in!”

Wilber, being such a kind and polite pig, replied through the door, “Salutations.”

“Salu-what?” replied the wolf.

“Salutations,” Wilbur repeated. “It’s a fancy way of saying hello.” 

“I don’t have time for this,” the wolf replied, getting more and more angry. “If you don’t let me in, I will huff and puff and blow the house dow… wait, instead I will just come in,” the wolf said looking down and noticing that the house had no lock. 

Then suddenly Charlotte jumped out and tired to keep the door closed with her silky web, but the wolf was too strong.     

He barged into house and found all six pigs cowering in fear in the corner.  He walked up to all of them and said in his low terrifying voice, “I got terribly lost and I need a place to sleep tonight.”

The pigs all stared in disbelief.

The wolf tried to explain himself, “I was riding on my magic carpet off to never land, and just around the river bend I came across a crazy old lady who tried to give me an apple, but I said no, so she pricked her finger and fell fast asleep, so I ran away.  I hadn’t gotten far when I met the most beautiful girl, with red hair.  I tired to ask what he name was, but she wouldn’t tell me, she and her crab were very rude.  I kept flying and then I came upon a glass shoe, but a huge and wild beast took it away from me.  Now I am turned all which way and I don’t know where to go.  Can I stay with you please?

Completely surprised by the wolf’s story, then six pigs agreed to let him stay with them.

“This is awesome,” the wolf replied.  “We can stay up late swapin’ stories ‘til the mornin’, I’m making waffles.”

James Thurber Fables

The Little Girl and the Wolf
I really liked this, because it was pretty funny. It was a weird twist on Little Red Riding Hood.  It is true, that now a days people are more careful and wouldn't be as studpid as the real Little Red Riding Hood story was.  It surprised me that she took out a gun, even though that makes much more sense for today's time. 


The Bear
This story didn't really remind me of any other story, but I did like it.  It was alarming when the father bear was drinking all the time, but I was slightly uplifted when he stopped.  It made me laugh when he started doing the same things again, but called it more healthy.  It is completely untrue that what he was doing the second time was more healthy. 


The Princess and the Tin Box
I actually didn't like this fable as much, because I felt like it was really just mean.  I think that while some people are very shallow, not everyone is.  I think it is terrible that the Princess picked the most precious gift, because that's not how fairytales are supposed to work.  The story should really end with her picking the gift of the person she loved, which should have been the guy who brought the minerals in the tin box.  It irritates me when fairytales work out the wrong way. 

Fables and Fairytales

Fables:

1. A rooster finds a precious jewel, but it has no use to him.  He decides that he would rather have food, then a jewel that has no use to him.  Moral of Aesops Fable: Be content with your life.

2.  The pond that the frogs live in dried up.  And so they decided to try to find another place.  They found a deep weel that they could live in.  One of the frogs was hesitant, because he was worried that they might not be able to get out of the well if it dried up. 

Moral of Aesops Fable: Do nothing without a regard to the consequences.

3. There was a sick deer, and his friends ate all his food.  He died, not because of hisd illiness, but because he had bad friends.  Moral of Aesops Fable: Evil companions bring more hurt than profit.

4. This lion and cow were getting a drink and fighting over who should drink first.  They were going to fight, until they saw vultures coming to eat whoever died. They decided to not fight and to be friends, so neither of them got eaten by the vultures.  Moral of Aesops Fable: Those who strive are often watched by others who will take advantage of their defeat to benefit themselves.

5. An old guy was dying, he told his sons to bring in a bundle of sticks.  Then he told them to break all of them together, but they couldn't.  When they broke them all individually, they could.  Moral of Aesops Fable: Union gives strength.

6. This guy coukldn't get the fish to dance, until he captured the fish and forced them to dance.  Moral of Aesops Fable: When you are in a man's power you must do as he bids you.

7. This deer was so proud of his antlers, but had very weak feet.  Then one day his antlers got caught and he could not run away from the lion.  Moral of Aesops Fable: What is most truly valuable is often underrated.

8. One pot was made of a hard metal and the other pot was very soft.  When they went down the river, whether to soft pot hit the hard or the hard hit the soft, the soft would parish.  Moral of Aesops Fable: The strong and the weak cannot keep company.

9. A mom crab was nagging at a little crab about how it walked.  But the little crab told the mom to walk the right way and that he would follow her example.  Moral of Aesops Fable: Example is the best precept.

10. A peacock wated to have a nice voice and be beautiful, but the "Gods" told him no, because he couldn't be the best at everything. Moral of Aesops Fable: Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.

Fairytales: 

1. Cinderella:  A girl has a really crappy life cleaning and cooking for her stepmother and two stepsisters.  They are so mean to her and won't let her go to the ball.  But then a fairy coomes and makes her adress and a carriage, so she can go to the ball.  She dances with the prince and they fall in love.  She has to run away at midnight, the prince tried to find out who she was, but she would not tell him.  Then later the prince's gaurd came to find her.  The stepmother was being mean and the fairy came to prove to everyone that Cinderella was the real Princess.  They all lived happily ever after. 

2. Little Red Riding Hood:  This girl was going on a day trip to see her Grandmother.  She found strawberries on the way and picked them for her.  She didn't know, but two big wolf eyes were starring at her.  Then the wolf came out to talk to her and found out about where she was going.  Then the wolf went and disguised itself as the Grandma.  It scared LLRH.  Then a hunter came and killed the wolf and the Grandma came back.  Then the mom came looking for LLRH and found her at the Grandma's house and they all three had a little family reunion.   

  

Fable

"Awe Man, sucks for you.   Bet you wish you were nicer to me.  Karma's a bitch." "Please help me," he lion begged.  "Nope," replied the mouse.


I wear dresses everywhere and enjoy dancing for no reason. I don't know why, but I'm not afraid of you.   It's just my way of saying, I love you.


I wish I had feet and not a tail.  You would think I was way hotter if I had real feet.  It sucks that I traded my voice for feet and now you don't know who I am.  It's also kinda embarrassing that I hang out with a fish and a crab all the time. 


Quit your working, I wanna play music and have fun.  We must work or we will die. 


I just wanna go to the ball and flirt with this really cute guy.  Then loose one of my shoe and  have him search for me.  Then we will meet and make out and ride away on his horse.  Ahhhhh, the perfect day.


This is so awkward, you don't look like my grandmother.  Although this is weird, I really feel like I should have figured out that you weren't Grandma before you started to try to eat me.


I have this cake that makes me taller and shorter, want some?  Com'on.  You should do it.


Dude, this hurts down here.  Please stop laying on me.  This is dumb, how did I even get down here?  Why do all these girls keep laying on me.  You are squishing me and casing is starting to break, all the mushy stuff is going to come out of me.  That's so embarrassing.


Why am I sitting on her finger?  People kill birds... what makes her so special?  She could go crazy and try and kill me at any moment.  Plus I think it's kinda unnatural for wild animals to sit on humans.


Cinderella
That awkward moment:
When your dress for the ball is made by a bunch of mice.
When this lady appears and starts singing and makes you a carriage out of a pumpkin to go to the ball.
When your shoes are made of glass and you aren't worried about being cut by them.
When you get to the ball and start dancing with the hottest guy there, but don't actually talk to him and he doesn't ask you your name.
When you hear the clock strike midnight and have to run away.
When your clothes and carriage change back, but your shoes don't.
When you loose your shoe and the prince finds it.
When your stepmother locks you in your room. 
When your step sister cuts off her toe to fit in the shoe. 
When the prince drops the shoe and it breaks and you have the extra one.
When you are forced by societal norms to ride side saddle in a dress on the back of a white horse into the sunset.
Being a Princess would suck.   

Sonnet

Dear Ms. York,


I know I wrote this wrong, but I think it sounds better this way.


Love,
Claudia


Happy Valentine's Day deep from my heart
I hope its gotten a very nice start.
My love is free, and my soul open wide
In hopes that one day you and I collide.
My heart is kept pure with a brand new space
For you to walk in and try to embrace.
Shout it out loud, I've got nothing to hide
I love you  in full, less problems or pride.
Your smiling face keep my spirits held high
Your jokes, make me laugh, so hard that I cry.
Each day I sit asking, why you picked me. 
But really, who cares?  I think that is the key.

this i belive responce

My Time and Place Amoung the Cows:  Dave Stewart - Epsom, New Hampshire


Wow this guy seems pretty crazy.  He is talking about how he believes his cows stop time and how beautifully his cows move.  I understand the part about how a stressed animal acts differently than a happier animal, but I'm not sure beautiful is the correct word to describe a cow.  I've milked a cow before in Australia and I really didn't think it was as hard as this guy is describing it as. I understand how it could be a tirering and thankless job to milk a cow twice a day, but I mean it's his cow and he has to deal with the consiquences.  If he doesn't want to milk a cow, then don't have a cow to milk.


-Claudia




The Sisterhood of the Rollar Derby : Erin Blakemore - Boulder, Colorado


Okay.  I really like rollar skating and sometimes I even don't mind going to rollar skating places, like WOW (or whatever it's called now), but the idea of a rollar derby kinda freaks me out.  I would generally say I have a slight prejudice, because I also think that it's just a dumb sport.  The girl said "That she puts her body in danger on a daily basis."  I kinda feel like that might be a bit overdramatic.  I mean I'm sure it hurts to fall, but isn't that true in every sport.  I see how skating could be hard on your body, but not the mind.  Why would anyone want to do something that will "skate over my pride and flair?"  Also I kinda believe that rollar skating is a hobby, not a sport. 


-Claudia




Pink Moments:  Connie Spittler - Omaha, Nebraska


I love her point of view on life.  I love how she enjoys a brilliant scene, like a sun set or a range or mountains.  She reminds me of a like fat, cute,  old grandma who just loves life and everything about it.  I like how she talks about how she trys to soak up everything great in the day, because she doesn't know when her last day will be.  Almost the concept of  "live like you are dying."  This kinda made me tear up a little.  Awwww. And she wrote it on my Birthday, last year. 


-Claudia




When Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things:  Jody Williams - Fredericksburg, Virginia


I love how she said that the difference between ordinary and extra ordinary is the things people have done to make the world a better place.  I completely agree.  It seems to me like she is saying that your worth in life is based on helping others, not how much stuff you have or don't have.  She is also kinda talking about how she wants to live outside the social norms, which is something I strive for and greatly would like a to achieve in my life.  She really stands up for what she believes in and is now the Corrdinator or the Anti- Landmine International Campaign.  That is so cool  I mean I really don't know that much about landmines, so I can't say if I'm for against them, but I have issues that I would like to have dealt with and I think it's really awesome that she is strong enough to do something about the things she doesn't like. 


 "I believe that words are easy — the truth is told in the actions we take. If enough ordinary people back up our desire for a better world with action, I believe we can, in fact, accomplish extraordinary things."
-Jody Williams


I love this quote:  facebook status!


-Claudia

FreeRice.com Words

I look far into the ocean and see the buoys, all tethered together, floating perpendicular to the dock. Far away from the dock I see a defiant buoy floating away, dispersed from the others.  I think to myself, some savage must have untied that buoy and let it float away, and I decide to swim out to get it.  I can hear my mom nagging at me, asking me where I am going, but I don’t answer.  I start my swim out to the buoy.  It’s further than I thought and I begin to get tired and my epidermis starts to get wrinkly.  I begin to notice that the sun is going down.  I can see the bright maize sun quickly changing to succulent reds, oranges and pinks.  What am I going to do now? I know the ocean gets scary at night and no one is coming to save me.  I feel so dejected, and I am worried that I might not survive the night in the ocean.  I should have listened to my Mom. Luckily my family genealogy is made up of hard workers who try to get out of every sticky situation.  So I turned around leaving the buoy for another day and headed back to the shore to reconnect with my family. 

word writing

I look down in front of me and see wonderful bright colors combined together to make a beautiful piece of artwork on the pavement.  I notice the water that is blue, like the ocean on a pure and calm morning and the green grass that is dark like an emerald.  The pink of a breath taking sunset, although slightly ostentatious with the glitter added to the edges. 

It’s the perfect evening for adding to my collection of circus children.  They tend to come outside on beautiful evening like this, and armed with an ice cream truck that exudes the tinny music that calls to children like the Pied Piper, I know that I’ll be able to add some new intriguing individuals to my collection.  My clock shows that it’s just past 5pm, and I hear the clearing of supper tables before parents whisk their children outdoors.  I scrape the green fungus off the top of the ice cream carton, which disused, serving mainly as a prop for luring in my victims, has crusted over with the hardened layer of grime.  Too finish cleaning off the fungus I grabbed a green washcloth and started scrubbing the fungus off the carton so the children could eat. As I looked down at all the ice cream my mouth started to water, all of this looks so scrumptious.  The quintessence of all of this is just so all overwhelming.  The blueberry ice cream was selling rapidly and I could feel myself worrying for fear of running out and limiting my success in this mission.  I needed more blueberry ice cream or my superiors would kill me.  Luckily I packed some blueberries, ice, and cream in my lunch snack.  I quickly concocted a replacement which served just as well in my purpose. It was fantastic and everyone loved my ice cream replacement.  Later that evening I noticed some of my children laying on the ground and walked over to find them all having lower back spasms.  They were all in so much pain…  Ha ha.  My plan had worked, they were all now mine. 

It’s a Boy!

“Congratulations, you have a new baby boy!” my child-development teacher said as she handed over the 10-pound bundle.

Last year in my high school child-development class, each student had to take the “Think-It-Over” baby home for a night to get a taste of parenthood. Even before I received the baby, I knew I was not ready to be a parent as a senior in high school. I could still remember when my brother and sister were little and I would have to take care of them all the time. At least the doll had no dirty diapers I would have to change.

It was a Friday night when my turn came to take the 10-pound plastic doll home. The doll really did look like a live baby from a distance. It even had a pleasant baby powder smell. After I took the baby home in his car seat, I changed him into some really cute clothes because my friends and I were going out that night. I then decided to name him Tyler.

Inside the body of this doll was a computer that was programmed to make periodic crying sounds. I was the only person who could stop the crying because I had the key. This key, tied to my wrist, could be inserted in the doll’s back to stop the crying. So far, so good. The doll had not cried, yet.

My friends came over, and we all piled into the car. It was kind of squished because we had the baby’s seat in there, too. I had to treat the doll like a real baby because the computer inside also measured any abuse to the doll, such as shaking or neglect. The hour-long drive to the restaurant was uneventful. It was rather chilly, so I decided to wrap Tyler in a blanket and carry him in that way. I also had a diaper bag with diapers, a bottle, and an extra set of clothes hanging on my arm.

Because it was Friday night, there were a lot of people waiting in line to get a table. When I walked into that crowded entryway, I got some very weird looks and quite a few raised eyebrows. My friends also noticed the glares and stares, so we decided to make a game out of the whole situation. I stood in the corner pretending to rock Tyler to sleep. Every once in a while my friends would peek in the blanket and say, “Oh, how cute.” I could not help but laugh. And although it was funny to my friends and me, some of the people did not think it was so funny that I had a baby. I overheard one couple say, “Why would she bring a baby here?” These people were giving me rude looks and forming judgments about me because they thought I was a teenage mom. Others just smiled at me sympathetically and felt sorry for me because I was only a child with a child.

We finally got a table, and the waiter, not knowing I was carrying a doll, asked me if I needed a high chair. I told him it was just a doll, but a high chair would be good. He thought it was funny that I actually dared to bring a doll into the restaurant, so he brought a high chair, plus a red balloon for the little one.

Again, during our meal, my friends and I received strange looks from the others in the restaurant. One couple kept walking by our table just to get a look at my baby. I think they were trying to figure out if the doll was an actual baby. As the couple walked by, my friends and I started discussing how people so quickly judged me and assumed that I was the mother of the baby. We decided that we would probably do the same if we saw a teenage girl coming in with a child and a group of friends. Teenage pregnancy is not accepted where I live and is definitely not the norm; many girls would hide their pregnancies if they decided to keep their babies.

We went to the mall after we were finished eating, and I had to take Tyler with me. My friends were looking at clothes, but I couldn’t because I was carrying this “baby” (which was becoming quite heavy). So I just roamed around wishing I could try on clothes, too. Then the baby started to cry this horrible imitation baby’s cry. It was so loud and terrible. I quickly put the key into the doll’s back so it would quit crying, and then I had to explain to the salesclerk why I was carrying around a plastic doll. I was so glad to finally go home.

I learned a lot through my experience with the “Think-It-Over” baby. The doll definitely reinforced my thinking that I was not ready to be a parent, but it also made me more aware of the larger picture. It opened my eyes to the judgments people make about others. People do not realize that some things are not the way they seem. The doll seemed like it was my baby, but that was not the case. I was only carrying it around for a class project. The people in the restaurant were so quick to judge me because they assumed I was a teenage mom. They undoubtedly thought I was stupid for taking a baby to a noisy, smoky place; they didn’t realize it was just a plastic doll underneath that blanket.

I sometimes catch myself judging people I do not know, just because of the first impression they give. In reality, I do not have a clue about their real stories. I especially think people judge teenage girls with babies too quickly. Sure, they may have made a mistake, but the girls usually know that, and they are the ones who have to pay the price. I only experienced the glares and rude comments for one night, but I thought of all the girls who have to deal with these looks wherever they go. We should all be slower to judge these girls, or anyone else, and realize that some things are not as they seem.


FOR YOUR BLOG:
This is a great story with some really excellent moments.  However, all writing can ALWAYS be imporved.  After reading this, choose three separate sentneces or pairs of sentences to REWRITE in a more active way. Copy and paste  narrativethe old version onto your blog, then rewrite the NEW version.  Stretch yourselves to come up with exciting lines!

1.  I had to decide what to call him.  I was thinking through the generic names,  Billy, Bob, Jon, but none of them seem like a good choice.  I thought about James, because that's my boyfriend's name, but I thought he would be freaked out.  So I settled with Tyler as a good name. 

2. The baby seat took up most of the space, so my friends are forced to all pile onto one side of the car and man! did they looked  squished.  Four people in two seats is not enough space. 

3. I feel like judgemental eyes are watching me the entire time.  Everyone is starring at me, the girl with the baby.  They don't know it's fake, but I wish they did, because then they might stop giving me those looks of utter disgust.