Veeeerrrryyyy Interesting...

...and I couldn't believe what happened.

During one of the recent 5-day periods of generally lousy weather in the east, one morning I was doing my housework - specifically, vacuuming the rugs throughout the house.  My outfit du jour was an ankle-length bright red short-sleeve rib knit house dress, and I was barefoot, as is typical for me around the house.   Then my wife decided to go out for a walk.   Fine with me...there's nobody to trip over the cord for the vacuum.

Her timing was impeccable - immediately after she left, the doorbell rang.  So, I had no choice but to answer the door, in my house dress.   It was the letter carrier delivering a package.  My attire was no problem, and the letter carrier (a temp, didn't know me) omitted any gender-specific forms of address.  

Then a little while later, it became quite dark and threatening outside.  Shortly thereafter, the phone rang, with a call from my wife that it was thundering, and I needed to rescue her (a few blocks away.)  The thunderstorm was very fast-moving and caught up to us quickly.   I told her I'd leave immediately, "as I am." She said "I don't care if you're in a dress and barefoot, or an evening gown and heels...just come get me quick."

So I did.   Good thing she had her phone with her that day.  And good thing I was taking a break from my vacuuming when she called. I'd never have heard the phone over its noise.  But the best part was:  it was the first time I've driven in a dress and barefoot, and another even bigger first: the first time having my wife as a passenger in the car while I was thusly attired.

Needless to say, it was an amazing morning.

But wait, there's more...

The morning's storms were followed up by another round of thunderstorms in the afternoon, which caused my wife to decide against driving herself to the store, and possibly getting soaked walking in from the parking lot.  Since I was not out and about, she drafted me to drive her, and pick her up when done.  (She was silent about my attire.)   When she said "let's go," I grabbed my purse and keys (while still wearing my house dress and in bare feet), and we headed into the garage to hop in the car.

Though rain had stopped, it was still cloudy.  I drove the car home while she did our shopping. No doubt she'd have objected if I tried to go into the store with her - anyway, I couldn't even if she wanted me to, because of my bare feet - "no shirt, no shoes, no service."  There isn't even an "emergency pair" in the car.   And in reality, I'm not ready to take quite that big a step in our home town (maybe across the bridge and 50 miles away...just not here.)   But together, these were a huge "double push of the envelope," rather successful ones at that.

She called me a few minutes before she was finished, to give me drive time.  It didn't take long to get there, and nobody seemed to notice me as I sat waiting,  even with the windows open.   Anyone who might have noticed me would have seen only the top 30 inches, which (at a glance through an open car window) would appear to be a woman.  That could be easily "confirmed" by the presence of the dress covering my lap, if they cared to check.  Nobody did.

After our preparation for what could have been a massive rainstorm, this one simply blew on by...not even a sprinkle!   But the way things worked out, that was perfectly fine with me...

The next afternoon, my wife tried another walk...but put me on standby to rescue her again if storms brewed.  Once again, I was puttering around barefooted, in my red house dress, so I said (somewhat tongue-in-cheek): "Let me change into my black dress now, so if you need picked up and we run across anyone today, they won't see me in yesterday's outfit."   I expected some sort of comment, but it was not to be.  Either she didn't hear me, or she just ignored it.  However, for some reason, she waited till I finished changing my dress, and then left without comment.

No, I didn't have to rescue her.  :-(

No, I don't interpret this seeming change in attitude as approval.  :-(   More like toleration, for her convenience.  :-)  But it may bode well for the future...