I was in a shopping mall the first time it happened. We were at the food court, I’d ordered a coffee. My friend had ordered a sandwich, she was waiting for it to be ready. I had a stroller, I was rocking my baby girl as I sat and my friend and I chatted. My friend was expecting.
“Holy crap, have you spent a lot of time on these mommy blogs? These idiots post stuff about researching NOT vaccinating our children,” she said.
I paused. I hesitated. I felt my palms glaze over. I am the first to admit I am not good with conflict. When political conversations arise, I hide behind the disguise of the naive. I fear conflict. It’s not my best trait, but I’m allowed.
“Well, I looked into it. To be honest, I’ve delayed hers,” I replied, motioning towards my rocking baby girl. It were a true statement. I was unclear on what I was going to do, because I’d read both sides of the argument and felt it was best to just delay the vaccination schedule.