Here's another funny story:
I had to go to the bank last week to get old bank statements for my court appearance. (see THAT story in the post-op living section). I didn't think much about the fact that the name on that account from 2007 doesn't now match the one that's on the account in 2009.
I happened to go in wearing my usual casual skirt, top and sandals. I had already called ahead and spoke to the bank dude on the phone so that the papers were ready in advance. When I got to the bank I saw a 30 something semi dweeby guy sitting there ready to go home. Thankfully, we still had a few minutes before closing. I introduced myself to him and was invited to sit down. Here's how the conversation went:
Bank Dude :" Okay, Julie I've got the statements ready for you, but I'll just need to see an id."
Julie: "Sure, I would be happy to, here." I handed him my id while he looked up the account online.
Bank Dude: (spoken with a perplexed look on his face). "It appears that I can only give you the 2008-2009 statements. The older ones were in your husbands name."
Julie: (realizing I had to come clean in order to get the papers) "Well, there was a name change." I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.
Bank Dude: (was expressionless for about 3 seconds then kind of winced and rubbed his eyes and shook his head like he couldn't believe it) " Oh, sure okay that's fine". He sat there for just a moment then picked up the phone to call for more backup from the customer service department. He apologized to me for the delay while he was on hold.
BD: " Can maybe you recognize anyone else here in the branch? How about that banker over there?", he asked me. "He came from your branch and maybe might know you."
Julie: I smiled and said, "I don't think he'll recognize me now!"
While he was still on hold with customer service, trying to prove that I was in fact female but with a male past, we started to make small talk.
BD: " So did you do everything here?"
Julie: "No, I use a few of your bank branches."
BD: "No, I mean like your, um surgeries?" He apologized again for the hold up, but explained that it was just a precaution to protect customer accounts."Besides, you're, um, a very female person."
At this point, I didn't know if he was professionally curious or looking for a good surgeon himself! He seemed very respectful, so I went on to tell him that I had some facial surgery in LA and my 'other type' of surgery in Montreal.
He hung up the phone without ever having spoken to customer service, smiled and handed me the papers I was looking for.
BD: "I don't want to make you wait any longer, and you seem like a nice lady. Have a nice day."
I thanked him, and realized that there are a lot of good people out there who are not put off by meeting a real live trans person in public. So for those of you either on the fence about transitioning, it can really happen. Just be careful, you may not be able to prove that you were ever born anything but female!
