I was getting groceries tonight (for Matt. cause he is watching the dogs while I have my INTERVIEW IN LA ON WEDNESDAY!) and HEB was crazy crowded. I was maneuvering around in the dairy aisle, and I left my cart for a minute to squeeze through the masses for a gallon of milk. As I was searching for the gallon of milk with the latest date, I glanced back to my cart to make sure it wasn't in anyone's way. And when I walked back to the cart, a black woman gave me a look and curtly told me that she saw the way I looked at her, but no, she was not going to steal my purse.

I was taken aback. Had I looked at her when I looked back at my cart? Had it crossed my mind that somebody would steal my purse? I started to defend myself, but then stopped.

How does it feel to live your life feeling like you will never fully be trusted? That no matter how hard you work, people will still assume the worst about you? I try to put myself in those shoes, but I will never fully understand the life that this women has been forced to live. I will never know the kind of hurt, shame and hopelessness that she feels when she is, time and time again, squeezed into a stereotype that doesn't fit her.

And so, instead of arguing back, my face fell, and I looked at her and earnestly apologized for doing anything that would maker her think that. And then I snuck behind the frozen vegetables and tried not to cry.