Though there haven't been any comments about my bright silver toe nails, the fact that I had to wear ballerinas for our entire excursion (before these sandals surfaced) sort of hints at the fact that my toes should "mostly" be hidden when we are at important meetings. (They still manage to peek out of these sandals occasionally, as you can see, but that doesn't seem to be an issue.) And up to now, my wife hasn't commented about my silvery finger nails since her original "don't use that color again" remarks. Some would interpret that as a good sign. I wasn't quite that optimistic.
Since I need another fill, I assured my wife that per her earlier request, this fingernail color would go away for our upcoming visit to our son's place. That was obviously the right answer - she smiled. But when I said I liked the color, and might wear it again sometime, the response was a severe case of "stink eye" along with the comment "Just don't." So much for her getting accustomed to my wearing it!
There is another similar, but less obvious, color which I can wear some other time. For now, back to simply clear over my fill, for the trip. No need to incite any riots, particularly just before she goes to visit her sister in August. You probably will agree that an argument about it right now would be in very poor taste....and not in my own best interests!
In the days between the above and today, not much new and exciting has happened. We are preparing for our excursion - to the Atlanta area and environs. For some odd reason, I know what I'll be wearing - shorts, the above sandals and several generic polo shirts (though capris will be a must when we are traveling.) Nothing at all out-of-the-ordinary. But we'll be meeting new people, and so I will look much like this (or with shorts instead of capris.)
Regarding Cyrsti's "Trans Dar" post, and Pat's comments about both she and her wife spotting one of our sisters working at a Lowes near her... That brings to mind a similar thing which happened to me in a railroad museum in Maine about 5 years ago. One of the female staffers sold us our tickets and gave us a bit of info about the museum...but I couldn't help noticing her hands. They were the first thing that caught my eye.
As Pat noted in her case, our clerk also sported badly-chipped purple nail polish on her rather large (for a woman) hands, and was was dressed in jeans and a museum top. (Can't say I noticed her shoes - back then I wasn't as observant. Sorry!) The next cue was her very deep voice, followed by a hint of Adam's apple. After we were out of earshot, I asked my wife if she had noticed anything out of the ordinary about her, and the answer was no. So, perhaps I was wrong...but to this day, I don't think so!
For the rest of our museum visit, I couldn't help thinking about that lady - and as time went on I became more certain that she was trans, though I wouldn't have dreamed of broaching the subject, in case I was in error and especially dressed the way I was...only androgynous, with no makeup. How lucky she was to be able to be "working" as a woman, despite her minor shortcomings, and in some ways I was very envious. For the next couple days, my mind kept bouncing back to her.
I hope she has progressed and has found well-paying work, perhaps at one of the more progressive and trans-friendly companies out there, or as of this past week, one of the government contractors who can't discriminate against us any more!
A final note...on Thursday, a package I had ordered from a shopping channel arrived via UPS. When I first called to place the order, they pulled up my wife's account and "miss-took" me for her. But I gave them my account number, which corrected things...and from then on I was "ma'am." When the package arrived, it was addressed to "Ms. (insert real first and last name here) at my address. My wife handed it to me without a comment...
Isn't life fun?
Life is always fun. It is nice to see that things never get boring.
ReplyDeleteI suggest that you go with the clear polish for your trip to visit your son. It will make things calmer with your bride. When she goes out of town to visit her sister you may want to pick up a bottle of polish in a color you like and do your own nails while she is away. I presume that this will also be a time when you can get out and about a bit whle dressed.
My wife is blessed with good fingernails and she often does her own polish and I cannot tell when she has done them herself or had them done at the salon. When I have done my own polish I tend to do a messy job and perhaps the clerk at Lowes and the T girl at the train museum only have my level of nail polish expertise. Plus, I would think that handling the merchandise at Lowes or the various tasks that are needed at the train museum would do a number on someone's nails and at a minimum would dictate against letting your nails grow too long.
My guess is that 5 years ago your T-dar was well honed and you picked up the T clues from the museum clerk while your wife's T-dar was not as acute and may not have been functioning. Having lived with me for over 4 decades and being a very observant and sensitive person my wife's T-dar is as sharp if not sharper than my own. She doesn't miss anything.
Like you at the train museum, my mind has thought back about the Lowes event several times over the past few days. There are other T-girls in the area. There is one that is known as the B----r Tr---y. We have seen her several times and my wife has had discussions about her with her hairdresser who is married to a cop in the town where this T-girl lives. Her story is that after her wife passed away she just started wearing all of her wife's clothing. She has her own long hair and could be taken for a woman from time to time.
There is also another T-girl tht my wife has encountered from time to time in mundane places such as the supermarket. There is also another T-girl a few towns away that had a short and aborted run to be the town mayor.
While my wife will concede that on those occasions when I dress up at home that I look better, more feminine and better put together than any of these four T-girls she continues to balk at any suggestion that I may have about going out while dressed. I refer to it as the NMH (not my husband) syndrome.
Pat
Love that NMH acronym! I seem to remember hearing those very same words a while back, when I suggested going out on Halloween in a skirt..."Not MY Husband!"
DeleteGuess we all hear that at some point! Never mind the fact that this coming Halloween, if the schedule works out (still not sure), I may either change in the car out in the cornfields, or go to Mom's nursing home and change in the restroom, to be able to show up at her "door" in a skirt! And I bet the girls will all have a comment!
My hands are far too unsteady to do a good job of painting my own nails in anything other than clear. But while my wife is at her sister's, I plan to go out dressed, and will be wearing professionally applied color for a couple of days. That should be fun!
The shiny silver definitely will be gone for our upcoming visit to our son's place. Shiny, yes - silvery, no. They've been shiny for years...that shouldn't be an issue. And I'll bet my wife will be so glad to see the silver gone, that she'll quietly overlook the "shiny." We'll see.
Cheers,
Mandy