Politically Correct Gone Wrong

Living a rural life allows us plenty of conversational time in the van. A typical ride into town lasts about 30 minutes, so if I don't turn on Relevant Radio or Dave Ramsey, I can be found answering lots of questions. Yesterday's question, "Do you think people would look at me funny if I was in a store with my friend, Haley, because she's blackish brown?", had to be tackled delicately. First off, I approached it from the angle of, would people look at you funny if you were in a store with someone taller than you?, would people look at you funny if you were in the store with someone who had longer hair than you? Of course, the answer I got was "no". This brought us to talking about all the different colors of people. Being African can mean one's skin is very dark brown/black or very light brown/tan. Being white can mean one's skin is slightly yellow or more pink. Then I said it, ......some people even have a more olive tone to their skin. Grace responded (very seriously and curiously), "Is that blackish olive or greenish olive?"

I curtly said greenish olive and turned on the radio. I had done enough talking for one day.