Curiosity in Asia Part II: Boy or Girl

While at the local market yesterday, I had something I like to refer to as an “Asia Moment.” Everybody I meet asks if the baby is a boy or girl, but two nice old ladies took it a step further. While I was distracted by the rice vendor, they must have come to the conclusion that a foreigner can’t speak the language even enough to answer a simple question. When I looked down on Archie in his stroller to check on him, I was amazed to see how they were indulging their curiosity. They were in the process of unsnapping his pajamas to check his gender for themselves. They were in for a surprise, though. Most babies here don’t wear diapers while they’re out in public. They wear pants that have been split down the middle and go to the bathroom wherever they happen to be. What a shock when the diaper hindered their quest for knowledge. I suppressed a laugh, told Archie to smile for them, and answered their questions. What would you have done?