Baby Booze

While taking a moment to powder my nose in the ladies room of a local drinking establishment (ok, going to the bathroom at the bar), I enjoyed reading the following fable on a public service ad:

Once upon a time, there was a big pile of laundry. The pile was made up of all different colors. A mommy decided she would play a game. Red! she said to her child, holding up a red shirt. Red! the child said. Mommy put it in the colors pile. Whites went in another pile. Green like a frog! White like ice cream! And so it went. Colors, whites. Colors, whites. And on the very last thing – a bib of blue – the child pointed to the colors pile. You should’ve seen the smile on mommy’s face.

Aw, shucks, what a cute message, and how nice that there is an organization out there encouraging parents with ideas to help their kids learn. And I had to appreciate that they had given me something a little interesting to read while --ahem-- powdering my nose.
But I then I stopped and considered the subtext, made more explicit by the location of this ad and to whom it might be targeted, "Hey Ma, get out of the bar and go home to your kids."

Post-Script Follow-Up: To those of you who might be following the Star Jones story, although never admitting it, Mo Rocca has a funny little commentary on it here.