My wife and I have been married for 7 years. I think of us as just a normal, average couple. We're both decent looking. We both had just a couple of sexual experiences before marriage. We had some sexual fantasies that we never acted upon. We lived in our own little world, dealing with our own issues, just like everyone else.
The only thing truly unique about my wife was her naivete. She was exceptionally gullible, innocent, and impressionable. I found that a cute characteristic, and I never thought much about it.
About a month ago, though, her naivete became an issue, causing a situation that was anything but average.
My wife began a new job about two months ago. She was actually recruited by the owner of the company, someone who had worked with her prior at a previous company. She was so impressed with my wife's work ethic and results that she sought my wife out years later to help manage her new staff. Impressed and flattered, not only by the fact that this woman remembered and pursued her, but also by the increase in salary, my wife took the job.
While things seemed to be going well, my wife kept coming home and expressing her concern that she wasn't really connecting with her new staff. She was doing her usual team-building activities and offering her normal incentives, and everyone treated her nicely, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't really fit in.
I mentioned that perhaps that my wife's upbringing may be the issue. She didn't understand. My wife grew up, fairly isolated from other cultures. And while she had previously worked with people from many different backgrounds, her workplaces had always been predominately white. The staff that she was currently managing was entirely black.
"I don't think that matters," she said.
"It shouldn't, and maybe it doesn't, but maybe you don't feel like one of the team because you don't think that you know their collective experience. Or maybe they view you as an outsider. Or maybe it's all in your head, and everything is fine."
The next night was Friday. My wife called my at the usual time that she left work.
"Honey, I found out that my staff all hangs out on Friday after work. They invited me to go with, and I think that I should. I really need to make us all a united team," she told me.
"Ok, have fun. I love you. Tell me about it when you're home."
My wife arrived at bar in a part of the city that she had never been to. She found her colleagues in a corner booth. Her team consisted of four black women.
My wife snuggled into the booth, and the small talk, work chat began. However, after a drink or two, the talk turned more personal. The women started to ask my wife about her life. My wife happily shared every detail, especially as all of the questions were pretty typical "getting to know you" questions.
Then, though, the women began to ask some private questions. My wife would shyly divert the conversation to avoid answering.
After my wife didn't answer yet another private question, one of the women said, "I told you that she was a prude," and they all laughed.
Resolved not to be seen as an outsider, my wife gave and answered their questions. My wife told them about our sex life, my penis size, her past lovers, our pillow talk, etc. At first, my wife was nervously answering, but with each answer and additional sips of her drink, with a mission not to be the prude, she began to feel comfortable sharing everything with her team.
Then, one lady asked a question that shocked my wife: "Are you racist?"
My wife nearly choked on her drink. "Lord, no, not at all."
"Well, how would you know?" asked another coworker.
"How could I prove that I am not?" my wife asked, with pleading and fear in her voice.
The women looked at each other, and one lady waved someone over. A very tall, very dark black man approached the table. The ladies introduced him as Antoine. He politely introduced himself to my wife with a smile and handshake. The women asked him to join their table and sit next to my wife.
"Antoine, this is our boss. We think that she might be a bit racist and/or a bit of a prude. Could you help us with an experiment?" a third colleague inquired.
"I'll help you lovely ladies with anything that you need," responded Antoine.
My wife was asked if she had ever sat this close to a black man before.
"No," she said. The ladies looked among themselves with a judging glance. This made my wife feel inferior.
"So all of your close friends and romances have been with white people, right?" asked the fourth.
"I never thought about it, but I guess," mumbled my wife.
