This short story tells place in the recently desegregated South, where "enlightened" whites are condescending, and blacks resent the efforts of well-meaning whites. The story opens with Julian, a young man out of college, accompanying his mother on the bus. His mother, who is required to take a weight reduction class for her health, will not take the bus by herself due to its desegregation. She reminds him how much she does for him, that the class is for health and is free; Julian grudgingly prefers not to think of what she does for him.
Julian's mother is examining herself in her new hat at the mirror, trying to decide whether she should have spent the $7.50 for it or if she should return it. The hat was purple and green; Julian describes it as "hideous.".....
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