Really?!....

I've rolled this around in my head and thought I would share a very strange and awkward moment I had a few weeks ago. But before we begin a little back ground info.

In the office building I work in there is a little deli run by a very outspoken little Asian woman. When I was pregnant she would tell me daily that I was so big I MUST be having a boy, and then the next day I would go down there - I was so big I MUST be having a girl. And later my office mates told me that one day they were down there and there was another prego woman getting some lunch and she looked at this woman asked her when she was due, what she was having and then told her that there was another woman who worked in the building and "she big, real big, she have twins and just don't know it." The boys knew - she was talking about me; she had the twin part wrong, oh and the girl part too. Nice lady, but there is a bit of a language barrier or cultural barrier - I just haven't figured out which.

So lets speed up to a few weeks ago, I ran down to the deli to get a coke. Most of the time I grab a can and put my money on the counter and tell them to have a good day because the deli is always packed with people waiting for a sandwich or something to be made. This day was different, there was no one in the deli. I get my coke, pull the exact change out of my pocket, look up and start to say, "have a great..."

"Oh hyi, you baby, he getting big right?" she yells across the counter to me. The first thought that runs into my head, is that I have a deadline that I'm trying to meet and she wants small talk - really could we do this another time.

So I reply, "yes, he's growing like a weed," then smile and head for the door. However, I only make it one step when she asks another question.

"So when you have another baby?"

One eye brow raises. Really, she didn't just ask me that. Seriously. I'm sure I looked like a deer in headlights right before they are run over by the mac truck on route 66. While I tried to roll around the right way to answer this question - which by the way - there is no right way, she throws another question at me.

"You want 'nother baby right?"

Good grief lady, now I was thinking of ways I could just run for the door. Would it be rude, to just walk out - she's going to see me again when I come down for another Coke in a day or two. So I quickly said, "oh yes, more children would be nice." My next thoughts were to smile and get the heck out of dodge. This line of questioning was just awkward and odd for anyone.

I got two steps forward when she asks, "oh, you husbund, he no want more kids?" It was at that point that I took a deep breath and threw the card I hold on to for special situations that need a quick out.

"My husband has cancer. I'm not sure if we will have more children." Then there was silence. I thought, I got her, I can go on my merry way and as I took another step...

"Tisk, tisk, tisk, oh that too bad. Too bad. Where is cancer in his body?"

Really lady, really, you have got to be kidding me! All I could think of was, she was going to hold me here with my Coke dipping water on me until I explain my life, Christopher's treatments, Ethan's views on the matter and how it might have all happened.

So I turned to her and thought of all the nice ways to put things, all the mean ways to put things and all the places I would like put things. But then I thought, she was just trying to be nice and sociable - in a very word vomit sorta way. I took a deep breath and explained in one large exhale.

"A little over a year ago, cancer was found in my husbands colon and liver, he's going through chemo, right now and we are dealing with it one day at a time, he feels great and is doing great considering that every two weeks he gets toxic drugs pumped into his body and asked to endure it with a smile, is there anything else you would like to know before I head back to work?" I grined after I said it - it's not what I wanted to say, but it's what came out of my mouth.

She looked at me for only a split second before, "oh ok, good, at least he doing good and want more babies." It was at that point that I was guessing that was the end of our conversation and I exited the deli.

Now you might ask - have I gone back to the deli since then. Oh yes, several times and she asks each time, "you husbund ok, still get drugs pumped into him?" I know she cares, but really!

Moral of the story: Don't ask total strangers personal questions.