Debbie Downers

I think my co-workers are strange. Last Friday my father called from Florida. I still remember it clearly. I was standing in my elevator, ski jacket on since I can’t stand being cold, dog by my side, when the phone rang. Irritated I quickly snatched the phone out of my pocket and briefly paused when I saw that it was my dad calling. He spoke briefly, first bragging about the weather and then he spilled the news, the news he’d been dying to share. My sister-n-law, Laurie, was pregnant. She and my brother have been trying for three years and their unsuccessful attempts have been brought up at various family function. So I was thrilled when I found out the happy news, so thrilled in fact that I decided to tell my co-workers at work. It was during lunch and one of them was going on and on about his adorable year old boy who coos and crawls on them in bed. Anyways, he was finishing a story about him, when I announced my happy news. Do you know what the first response was? He asked how far along she was. Normal, yes. I responded that it was recent so she wasn’t that far along. He next said, “Well, Alayna, I wouldn’t get too excited. You know 1 out of 3 pregnancies ends in a miscarriage.” Then the rest of them joined in and discussed how many friends they knew that had lost babies. I felt like I was in an SNL skit and kept waiting for the Debbie Downer music to play.