Painting With a Broad Brush

When Jack was a baby, I began to notice that a particular population would stop and speak with us. No matter where we were, Gymboree, the mall, grocery shopping, I noticed that older Asian women would strike up a conversation with me about Jack. All. The. Time. More often than not, they were limited in their English skills and I found it strangely fascinating that they would initiate a conversation with me. I'm not positive, but I think it was the curly brown hair and boy combo that drew them to us as patting the hair was always part of the conversation. Well after the curls were cut, so did our conversations.


Well Jack has a new group of conversationalists: older, white gentlemen. You see, Jack can whistle. I mean, he can't whistle tunes, but he can whistle long and loud. His whistling skill far surpass my abilities so of course I think he's pretty good for four years old. There are days that he whistles constantly-at home and out in public. Cue the older, white gentlemen. And I should preface this by saying that by in large, older, white gentlemen generally have nothing to say to us (him) and tend to look right past him. But apparently there's something about a four year old whistler that warms their heart because they stop dead in their tracks to say something to him. Perhaps it reminds them of a bygone era when whistling was a way to pass time, I'm not sure. But for now, we're enjoying his new found popularity with strangers.