Response to The Understudy

Being born and raised in the Deep South, this short story by David Sedaris came as no surprise to me. Although I didn’t live in a “big” city like Raleigh, my hometown has women just like the babysitters depicted in the story. He described the stereotypes of “poor white trash” and “grateful old black woman” very well. My family had two black maids when I was growing up. And I didn’t know many families that didn’t. Just to clarify, they were not slaves and no slavery was involved. It was their jobs to clean houses, keep children, etc. Sedaris’ illustration of the black babysitters was very close to true. I was raised by black women just like them.

As for the poor white trash, Sedaris couldn’t have given a more perfect representation. Not only were women like Mrs. Peacock around during his childhood, but also I unfortunately have to go home to a town full of them every couple of weekends. They behave, live, dress, and treat other people just like Mrs. Peacock did in the story. Spitting image pretty much. And the southern accents used are more than spot on. The only difference is, where I live, that accent is shared by poor white trash, middle class, blacks, everyone. I really enjoyed the short story. It’s always nice to read about something you can kind of relate to.