When little Sophia successfully completed a month of “going poop on the potty,” her parents allowed her to pick out a reward at their local Target store in South Carolina. The two-year-old girl immediately selected a doll, according to a Facebook post her mother Brandi Benner uploaded on Friday.
As they arrived at the checkout counter, an apparently puzzled cashier questioned Sophia’s choice of doll. The woman asked the toddler if she was attending a birthday party and if the toy was for a friend. While Sophia stared blankly, her mother says she told the employee that the doll was her daughter’s reward.
“The woman gave me a puzzled look and turned to Sophia and asked, ‘Are you sure this is the doll you want, honey?’” Benner wrote.
The source of the cashier’s confusion, according to Sophia’s mother, was that the little girl had picked out a black-skinned doll. Sophia spoke up, prompting a response Benner shared on Facebook.
“The cashier replied, ‘But she doesn't look like you. We have lots of other dolls that look more like you,’” she wrote.
Just as Benner began to feel angry about the situation, her daughter replied to the cashier with a brilliant response that impressed her mother.
“Sophia responded with, ‘Yes, she does. She's a doctor like I'm a doctor. And I'm a pretty girl and she's a pretty girl. See her pretty hair? And see her stethoscope?’” Benner wrote.
That’s when Benner said the cashier dropped the topic with a simple, “Oh, that’s nice.”
Sophia’s mother says she shared the story as a lesson others might learn from too.
“This experience just confirmed my belief that we aren't born with the idea that color matters,” Benner wrote. “Skin comes in different colors just like hair and eyes and every shade is beautiful.”
Sophia’s mother finished the post with a series of hashtags promoting diversity and positivity such as, #allskinisbeautiful and #teachlove.
Since the story was posted on Friday, it has already garnered more than 470,000 likes, more than 189,000 shares and tens of thousands of comments praising Sophia. In a follow-up post on Sunday, Benner wrote that she had no idea it would be seen by so many people.
“I am absolutely blown away! Our family has received so much love, support and encouragement from complete strangers and that is just proof to me that there is SO MUCH good in the world,” she wrote.
For the most part, Benner said the majority of comments she’s received have been “pure love” aside from a few negative responses directed at the Target cashier. She defended the employee in the post, however.
“The cashier was an elderly woman and I believe she was completely ignorant to what she was truly saying,” Benner wrote. “I feel like in her mind she was being helpful and making conversation with my daughter.”
Sophia’s mother wrote that she’s thankful her story has reached as many people as it has and that her daughter has spread so much positivity.
