Letters to the Editor
This letter is associated with the following article:
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my pet peeve
is "Smile, baby! You'd look prettier!"
I got this six weeks after Katrina while walking from my old home in Mid-City to the French Quarter because that's where the nearest open grocery stores were.
This was a 2+ mile walk, each way, through a flooded-out neighborhood with search-and-rescue tags spray-painted on the houses (letting the world know how many bodies were found inside) and maggot-infested refrigerators left on the sidewalks for pick-up.
For all the "Smile, baby!" guy knew, I could have lost friends, family, everything I own. So I looked him in the eye, pretended like I was going to cry, and said "My mother just died."
He never bothered me again.
And my (very much alive) mother loves this story.