Tween Tales: Colors

**originally written May 2012**

Our youngest kid, LB, is a twelve year old middle schooler. He is a cute kid and I say this using the number of little girls who have called our home asking for him as my gauge, not the biased mommy meter.

Last night we were on our way home from dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and decided to stop at a popular frozen yogurt shop for dessert. This shop is a little out of our neighborhood and we had to drive through a section of town we don't usually frequent.

It was dark, and at one particular intersection we came upon a parked police cruiser with its siren lights on alerting motorist to a closed portion of the roadway. Pedestrians were gathered around.

LB sees the commotion and declares, "LOOK! Crime scene, ahead! Are we in an area known for gang activity?"

I assured him we were not and continue, "LB, all those people are holding candles. They must be holding a candlelight vigil for someone who died right there. The police car is just there to make sure no one gets hit by a car."

"Oh, welllllllll... um... did you know you could get shot for accidentally wearing the wrong color in a gang neighborhood? One gang is blue and the other red."

"Yeah, that's crazy and very scary."

"Yeah, so if I ever have to go to {city known for prolific gang violence and daily gang shootings} I'm going to make sure I'm wearing pink.... or purple."

As I look out the window at the other cars, I envision LB sticking out like a sore thumb in such an environment, with his Justin Bieber hair cut, vans and pink outfit. I smile to myself and tell him, "Great idea, LB, that's good."

...Yeah, pink would most definitely keep him safe.