It finally happened....

Well it finally happened. I was warned by a few parents of children with Albinism that I need to be ready for people who say stupid things. I was in Wal Mart the other evening and I got the usual, "look at that white hair!" I said my thank you's and was about to go on my way when the light hit Addison's eyes just right and the man said, "oh look honey, IT'S an albino!" I took a breath (so I wouldn't slug him) and calmly said, "No, she is Charlee Addison and she has a condition called Albinism!" Then I had to hear about an albino snake he once owned that had red eyes..you see this made him an expert. I explained that while the snakes eyes may have indeed been red, my daughter's eyes were blue but did not process light correctly so they had a red tint. I finally thought he was about to leave when he said the last line, "The only problem is she may have an allergy to the sun." Oh, this guy was an expert, he thought he knew what he was talking about... "No, I said, let me educate you just a little." I proceeded to tell him that Addison would be legally blind and she would not have an allergy to the sun but a sensitivity to the light which went back to the whole eye issue. I told him how she would have to wear dark tint sunglasses and big hats. He finally walked away but it took thirty minutes for my blood pressure to return to normal.
I am sure there will be a next time as Addison gets older and I hope I can always keep my cool but it amazes me that people talk about a tiny baby without thinking of how the words sound to the mother of that baby!

It really made me think about how "labels" make people feel. Addi is NOT albino. She has albinism. Words hurt and now I think about things a lot harder before i say them out loud.