I took my boyfriend to a fancy lunch in the countryside of Lima for his birthday. We sat facing a fire pit, in a grassy, countryside eco-restaurant with plenty of tourists. As we waited for our food, we saw a white woman with her Peruvian husband. She had laid a blanket on the grass. She then started changing the baby’s diaper. Right there. Another white friend of mine did the same baby-changing trick in an upscale ice cream parlor in Lima. “If she had been black!” my boyfriend said, rolling his eyes.
I’m not against people changing their babies’ business in public, but, seriously, at an upscale restaurant? And no one said a word, no one even gave a look. Yes, if she had been black, I am pretty sure security would have been called. “That is so unhygienic. There are changing rooms in the back. Have a little more respect for the other guests.” Finger wags. Stares. Calls to the manager.