What a month!

As you may have noticed, lately I’ve not been on-line much…things have been much too busy.  And other than my normal mode of androgynous dressing, very little has involved Mandy.   She has remained “in the suitcase” for the entire time.   No skirts or dresses in public.  (Only around the house…where it is tolerated.)

For the entire month, I was dressed in my everyday outfits: women’s tops, shorts or capris, and flats or sandals.  I carried my usual purse, my fingernails were the usual light pink, and my toes in a darker color to hide repairs to the two broken nails.   And of course, there was my long hair…

 I was involved with getting ready for the trip to our son’s place in TN for a while prior to departure.  Our visit was from the last week in May until nearly mid-June.   These trips tend to be lengthy, due to the long driving distance.  Once we were enroute (two days of driving), there were a number of occasions when I was Miss-identified by clerks, and so on.  It was not a problem for me, and fortunately my wife was not nearby when it happened.

A couple of times, in the men’s restroom, a guy would enter, take a look at my long hair and turn around to leave.  I usually tell them “don’t worry, you got the right place.”   They turn around and come on in, looking relieved that they hadn’t gone into the girls’ room by mistake!

I was with our son (who as you may remember has long hair, but with a beard) while shopping for some home supplies at a home supply store.  After locating a clerk, we found that he Miss-identified me as our son’s mother.  Son took it in stride, corrected the guy, and life went on.  And nothing was said…we’ve had the discussion about us both being identified as female – from the back.   All he has to do is turn around, and – oops, male - no question, case closed.  With me, not so much – I refuse to grow facial hair and look older.  (Not to mention the other issue - femininity.)

Another incident happened at his under-construction home.  I was there, helping out with some incidental issues. He had called for a pick-up of the construction-debris dumpster.  And when the driver arrived, the driver automatically addressed me as “his mother.”  I was truly flattered, but son politely straightened him out, too…and once again, nothing further was said.

There were several other similar “incidents”, with nobody from family present, and I simply responded as a female, with softer and more feminine voice.   And even though I wasn’t wearing a dress, my attire was sufficiently feminine to be accepted as female.  Would I have preferred to be wearing dresses?   Sure!   Was I clocked?  Most likely.  But nobody reacted badly, and overall, it was a good experience.

I took fewer pictures on this trip, than on any other recent one.  And none that I can include here.  But we were busy with things at the house, so that was to be expected.  Perhaps next time will be better…

Thanks for coming back to read my freshly-updated blog…

Mandy