From The Field....
by Jennifer Mueller
(Saint Cloud, WI)
Paul & Vincent at 2 wks old in NICU
I was at the local Wal-Mart one day just to get a few odds and ends. I am already well versed in the fact that twins constitute a longer time frame for everything, including shopping, as they are viewed as a "side-show" to the general public.
I had been in the store for about 10 minutes when the first person stopped me to ask if I had twins. I just smiled and said, "Yes." and kept walking, trying to be polite enough to acknowledge her question and still make it obvious that I didn't feel the need to stop and talk with her. Another ten minutes, and six "Are they twins?" questions later, I was cornered by an overly curious woman, who proceeded to grill me about my babies. I was trying to be polite and finally got away from her, after fielding the "Do they run in the family?", "Are they identical?", "Were you trying for twins?", and the ever popular "Are they natural?" questions. I got about ten feet down an aisle when another woman, who had been listening raptly to the other woman question me, stepped right in front of my tandem double stroller, pulled the blanket covers off of both of my boys and exclaimed "Ohh...aren't they cute? Are they twins?!" At this point, I was feeling a bit peeved and promptly answered, "No. I saw this one at Shopko and decided to pick him up. As I was on my way home, I saw the other one in a field and stopped and picked him up, too." She looked at me like I was crazy and proceeded to tell me how rude I was for not just answering her question.
Luckily enough, my husband walked up just as I was about to tell the woman how incredibly rude I thought she was for uncovering my babies and stopping a complete stranger in the store just so she could satisfy her curiosity. He just looked at her and told her, "Walk away now before my wife's hormones take over." She walked off, complaining about it the whole way. Thank God for my husband, or I may have been banned from Wal-Mart for life!
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