thebibliosphere:

averagefairy:

i hate when people ask me to “watch their stuff” like what if someone comes and actually tries to steal it. do i have to fight them. i’m not ready 

I still remember the one time I was sitting in a coffee shop back when I was in college. I had my books spread out everywhere and umpteen empty mugs around me, and this woman comes in with her stroller, sits down and starts taking the baby out. After about ten minutes she looks over at me and goes “Could you watch her for a second? I really need to go to the bathroom and my husband is late.”

Expecting her to put it back in the stroller and push it toward me I said “sure”, though somewhat reluctantly as I imagine every scenario ranging from the opening sequence of Roger Rabbit to Taken managing to occur in the time it would take me to blink.

Instead she walks over, plonks this infant toddler down in the middle of my French notes, says thank you and walks off.

She was gone for forty minutes.

And that’s the story of how I tried to teach a toddler to say “my mother abandoned me here” (“ma mère m’a abandonné ici” still the only words I fucking know) in French and almost resigned myself to motherhood.