The quest for Mexican food, and another woman's loss

Since David is from California and I spent the last 12 years there, we are sort of jones-ing for good Mexican food. You know, not Taco Bell.  Our old neighborhood had many Taquerias to choose from.  Not so much here.  Here there are plenty of Italian restaurants, but they don't serve enchiladas.

So we've been searching for authentic Mexican restaurants -- the ones with good food and no atmosphere.  On Sunday we decided to try one that we'd found in one of our multiple searches of online Yellow Pages.

It was in a seedier neighborhood than the one we have moved to, and indeed when we went inside everyone stopped talking and looked right at us. We were the only white people there.  And the menu featured items such as cow's head tacos and cow's tongue tacos, along with some other less scary selections.  The refrigerated drinks case had Jaritos (or however you spell that Mexican soda)

We wanted to sit down and drink in the whole experience.  (After everyone realized that we knew what we were doing, they resumed their conversations and were so friendly and nice.)  However, Jack was in a bit of a state.  He'd been up late the night before for his Daddy's birthday party. And he hasn't been napping at daycare so he really had that sleep deprivation crankiness going.

David and I took turns taking him outside while each of us ordered. When it was my turn to order we realized that this would never work, so we got the order to go.

While waiting another white woman came in. She saw I was pregnant and asked what I was having. I told her a boy.  She said she'd had a boy a few weeks ago.  It seemed strange that she didn't have a baby with her.  She said everyone she knew was having boys.  She seemed relatively happy, but then said to me something like "watch out for the cops. they'll take your baby away."  And then she told me that social services had her baby because she'd been determined to be schizophrenic and borderline retarded.  She'd only been allowed to spend an hour with her baby since he was born on April 2. She said she had a hearing on Tuesday to determine whether she could have more time with him or get him back.

This is such a terribly sad story. I totally empathize with anyone who wants and loses her baby.  I don't know this woman or her baby, and I only know a very sketchy version of the events as she has explained them.  So I don't know what is best for the baby or for her.  But it broke my heart to see this new mom wanting her boy and not being able to be with him.

Our food was ready, and David brought Jack back into the restaurant. The white woman asked about Jack, and she looked very sad all of the sudden.  I wished her luck, and we were off with our Mexican food.  And I was immensely grateful to have my boys with me, (even though one of them was screaming in full tantrum form.)

Comments

[Aurelia]

This is sad, I always feel awful about these stories. I keep wondering if women in this situation couldn't live in some sort of supervised place with their babies and people to help them. She obviously cares about the baby, she just needs help, y'know?

[Eva]

How sad. I used to be a social worker, and I know some people really aren't fit, But even so it's sad when parent and child are separated involuntarily. I had a recent Mexican restaurant incident that was similar. The waitress was all over my child, hugging and kissing teary-eyed, and later told me she'd just miscarried.