Last night I went to a movie with my friend and her husband. Before we left, my friend introduced me to her babysitter as her friend Susan who was becoming a nun. The girl looked at me, then looked at me again in semi disbelief. She then regained her teenage composure and initiated this mini conversation.
Babysitter: You're not going to be one of those really mean nuns are you?
Me: Not planning on it.
Babysitter: Because I'm sort of afraid of nuns. The mean kind.
Me: Hmmm....
Babysitter: Not that I've ever actually talked to a nun. There are some that go to my church but I've never talked to them.
Me: (Smiling at her) ... well, now you have!
At that point we had to go or we'd have missed the movie.
3 comments:
geez...where are people still getting the mean nun stereotype from? I can honestly say while I've met a wide range of people who're professed religious (male and female), I've never met any mean ones. (Cranky, sure, but we all have our off days.) What concerns me more are those who're obsessed with whether or not a monk/nun/sister is wearing a habit or not.
Isn't that interesting? I wonder where she picked up on that stereotype? I'm glad you had the opportunity to meet her... help her get passed the image of the "mean nun."
The stories the movies tell. How many kids today have even MET someone they knew was a NUN? Much less one who was mean. I guess the old habit image was scary. I am grateful my first "nun" encounters were later in life and without the constraints of habits. I am astounded by the questions people ask me about my "nun-friends" as if they are a different species.
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