Things Are Changing … Well, Not Everything

Jake and a friend were playing Wii when Will walked by in a shirt and underwear carrying a pair of pants on his way outside. “Put your pants on.” I commanded as I followed him.

“William!” Jake exclaimed in a horrified tone.

“It’s ok. He’s autistic.” I explained to his friend as I followed Will outside.

But, maybe I misinterpreted the “William.” Maybe the scandalized tone meant Jake was embarrassed for himself rather than for Will. I tried to imagine myself as an eleven year old boy who has a new, older friend over for the first time and decided that Jake was definitely embarrassed for himself.

Poor Jake, he has a mother so immune to embarrassment that Will could have walked past the kid stark naked and I would have said the same thing. “It’s ok. He’s autistic.”

Because, as you all know, that excuses everything.