How Will We Label It

A baby was born with carotene skin and left on a Senator’s doorstep in Washington. This neonate’s pigment was reddish orange, bright too, unusually garish. How will we label it? The lawmakers fretted when the Senator took it to the Capitol Building to try and find it a home. It is not black, not white, not caramel, not pink, not yellow. It is not an albino, it is carrot-colored. How will it pay taxes? A Senator married to an I.R.S. agent wondered. “It will not be able to fill out a W-2 properly.” What will we label it? The senators all worried, crowding around for a look. “How about you label her baby?” a visiting four-year-old child suggested.