To put on plastic jewelry

For the last two months, I've been going to a Latino Baptist church in Pittsboro, NC. Last week after the service, some of the teenage girls called me over to their mom's car where they were selling colorful plastic jewelry for their neighbor who is pregnant and trying to make a living from her house. They asked me if I wanted to buy anything and were showing me some very, let's call them interesting pieces of jewelry that I think I might have work eight years ago. As a Peterson girl, I was raised to like fine, dainty pieces of gold and silver jewelry, and was the topic of discussion whenever I donned my coconut shell earrings and when I got a green studded nose ring. I was picking through the pieces with a smile on my face, trying to find something of interest to me, but ended up saying that I didn't think I needed any jewelry right now, but thanks anyways. Plus, I had used the last of my cash on the tithe, so I had a really good excuse if one was needed. Then, this 28-year-old woman who I had never met turned from the jewelry stash and asked me which one I wanted, holding out two necklace and earring very fake pearl sets, one in blue and the other in white. I politely declined and told her in Spanish that she didn't need to buy me anything, but then she informed me that she already bought it and c'mon, choose which one you want. So I chose the blue.

She proceeded to ask me what I was doing after church and I said going home, so she invited me to lunch with her family, which included her sister, brother, mother, niece and nephew. Touched by the invitation, I agreed to lunch and then drove her and her 8 month pregnant sister in my car as we headed into downtown Pittsboro to their favorite Mexican restaurant. While we were in the car and listening to the embarrassing perpetual dinging of my confused, old van, it occurred to me that I didn't even know their names. I asked, we arrived, we ate, and the 13-year-old boy asked me about my favorite movies. I regret that I'm so boring and had to tell him that I don't normally watch movies. They paid for my lunch with them and we went our separate ways.

Today, I'm about to head off to church. I'm dressed in my khakis, a nice black top, a purple shrug, and matching plastic blue earrings and necklace.