TOOLBAG TUESDAY

My twin sister, Joy, and I took the public bus home every day in high school.

It was 1 mile from our school to the bus stop at our block, but we got a 1,000 insults during the five minute ride.

It was because we were white -- super white girls with blonde hair and blue eyes -- and could have sat on a bus in Sweden and not had anyone paid attention to us.

But this was New Orleans and a bus with quasi inner city black kids and we were the subject of a lot of jokes, many of which we didn’t understand.

There was this one comment (compliment?) that our poor, inexperienced minds didn’t get.

This one guy used to say it to us every day.

We didn’t get it at the time. But now that we're older and more, uh, in tune to sexual things (from the movies, mom!!!) we NOW get what he was saying.

And it’s gross.

Every day, for the 180 days during that school year, he got on the bus, he’d look at us and say, “Yo, girl. I want some CREAM in my COFFEE.”

(He was wearing a high school uniform.)

We didn’t get it, because we were young and cute and didn’t drink coffee.

“Oh, you do? That’s nice,” we’d say, (seriously) and then pretended to read books from our seats at the very front of the bus.

We weren’t being dodgy; we honestly didn’t know what he was talking about.

It was only two years later when we realized what CREAM IN MY COFFEE meant.

GROSS!!!

He had to go ahead and make the most popular beverage in the world be all DIRTY! And were weren't even responsive to his sexual...uh...pick up line? Yet, he said that to us every day.

He wanted some HIGH SCHOOL CREAM in his coffee?

Ugh.

If I ever take up the habit, I’ll take mine with just sugar.

-Jenny