Monday, April 25, 2016
A little girl and her picnic...
A quickie today...
Recently I was out and about in the antique car , to give it some exercise, buy some oil and fill the gas tank. My outfit was light-colored capri pants, flats without pantyhose and a 3/4 sleeve black turtleneck.
Once again, I visited the auto parts store where the "clerk in a skirt" used to work...they have a whole new crew there. No familiar faces at all. So I guess they've all moved on... A guy leaving the store ahead of me stood "extra long" at the door, to hold it for me as I approached. I gave him my sort-of-feminine-voiced "Thank you, Sir" and he said "You're welcome, Ma'am." I think my "secret" remained safe...
And at the hardware store, I bought a 50 pound bag of mulch. The clerk summoned someone to "carry the bag of mulch out to the lady's car." I thanked her...and the guy said "You're welcome, Ma'am. "Secret" still safe...
When I got home, after running the car through the local self-wash, our neighbor lady (a seventy-something grandmother) was sitting under the cherry tree in our side yard, having a picnic with her four-year-old granddaughter, whom I also know. The little girl is a cutie...and we've known her since she was a baby. It was an unexpected surprise that she got up and excitedly ran to my car door once I'd turned off the noisy V-8, greeting me with a truly friendly "Hi, Mr. (insert my real first name here) and welcome home." It was so thoughtful to get this enthusiastic greeting from an unrelated little tyke...I was very touched by it and teared up a little. Sunglasses are definitely an asset at times like that. And I hope it's something which will eventually happen with our own granddaughter, when she's old enough to walk and talk.
The three of us chatted for a few minutes, but I had to get to work drying off the remaining water from the car, so I didn't end up with water spots on its finish. And as I did, I overheard the little girl (for some odd reason, kids don't know about whispers at that age) tell her grandma that I was a boy with long hair. "Yes, he is." "Why does he have long hair?" "Because he likes it." The discussion went on for a couple more exchanges and then the little girl changed the subject. I was shocked (and pleased) to note that my capri pants, tunic and flats (all plainly visible) were not mentioned. She fixated on my long hair... The girl's mother arrived by car a few minutes later and picked her up...so their picnic ended rather abruptly for the day. But I suspect they'll be back again - it's a nice little picnic spot!
At the Nursing Home the next day, my mother was having a public hissy-fit that one of the elderly ladies was staring at her (and of course me) as we traveled down the hall, and dropped her feet to stop movement so she could yell at her some more. My comment to Mom (which disrupted her yelling) was "So what? I've been stared at by more influential people than her." Mother persisted in her diatribe. Thus, Mandy's Nursing Home Rule Number 1 - "Always separate the verbal combatants and they forget about it after a while."
Since Mom had her feet firmly planted on the ground, which effectively prevented her wheelchair from moving forward, I simply took the handles, backed it around and hauled her backwards to her room. She continued yelling at the lady who stared, as we retreated into the distance. When you can't stand up, trying to plant your feet on the ground as a brake, makes very little difference when being pulled backwards. But she gave it her best shot. Fortunately she doesn't know about wheelchair brakes...and I don't plan to show her. (Not that she'd remember anyway.)
Wonder if the lady was interested in my outfit? We'll never know...but haven't heard any more arguing since then...
More later...
Mandy
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Children have a way of seeing things that is often open and pleasing. This little girl sees you for being a nice person and since she knows you are a man and she does not know many men your age with your type of hair (in fact most men our age would love to have any hair) she raised the question and got a satisfactory answer.
ReplyDeleteSaturday was a somewhat warm day so I did not have pantyhose on and for the first time this winter my wife mentioned my toes. I few weeks ago I had a doctor's appointment and took the polish off my toes. I do not see well and reaching my toes presents some issues so I did a lousy job. She mentioned that I did a real bad job taking the polish off my toes. My read is that she had observed the polish on my toes all during February and March but never mentioned it and that noting that I had not done a good job taking the polish off was her way of hinting that with summer sandal season coming I should address the issue.
Yesterday I went for a mani/pedi. Since it is summer and I am often without shoes there was not going to be any color put on my toes. This place is one typical up in my neck of the woods with all of the workers being Asian. The workers here are Korean. As the young lady first addressed my toes she had a discussion with the tech next to her in Korean which my read on their body language was about the polish that remained on my toes.
Oh well. This was the shop that put my first coat of colored polish on my toes about two years ago.
Pat
So I wonder if the next time our paths cross, that little girl will "notice" my rather feminine outfit? I hope not...better she stick with noticing my long hair again! I've got my fingers crossed...
DeleteAsian nail salon workers are common here, too. Likely everywhere. Since they are generally bilingual, they can speak English (sort of), as well as chatter in their native tongue. And there isn't much we can do about it...but I've never cared for the practice, either. To me, it somewhat smacks of "disrespectful."
Our only way around it is to learn the basics of their language. And I, for one, don't choose to do that.
My old salon was Asian-run. And, the new one is as well. There were long discussions in native tongues at the old one, but so far, in my limited experience (2 visits), employees at the new one don't chatter amongst themselves, in anything but English.
That's refreshing...
Sounds like "clear polish season" is upon us...sorry to hear that you won't be able to use color. I, too, am going to be stuck with subdued "color" choices, since the new salon is in my town.
But if I can get away en-femme, I still plan to have a salon in a nearby town give me some nice, bright color on both fingers and toes...and then take it off when I return (I have some of the same issues as you in ability to do my own toes...)
Mandy