Friday, 18 May 2012
A Calico Apron
Written by Dana LaRocca
http://www.baltimoreoutloud.com/k2-fetch-latest/equality-political-commentary/city-desk-a-view-from-mt-vernon-as-i-see-it/item/1297-a-calico-apron (http://www.baltimoreoutloud.com/k2-fetch-latest/equality-political-commentary/city-desk-a-view-from-mt-vernon-as-i-see-it/item/1297-a-calico-apron)
After Erica's first attempt at transitioning, she lost her well paying job, was divorced, and lost all of her savings in a failed business venture. She thought to try living as a male, one more time. She was not successful at that, and now lives full time as a woman, happy at last. That was twenty years ago. This is the saga of her "manly" adventure.
Unable to find employment in her field and about to be evicted she took up work in construction. She was at the bottom of the totem pole, working for minimum wage, unloading trucks. Weighing it at 128 pounds, "Eric" was the natural choice to climb into the top of the shipping containers to retrieve 120-pound boxes of steel fixtures from the nose of the containers. This involved crawling to the front of the container, where the August outdoor heat was 98 degrees. Eric never ventured to guess what the heat was at the nose of the container.
On Eric's first day of work the Project Coordinator laughed, "Those pants won't last very long," he said. Eric was wearing Armani slacks, he owned no jeans. He wore an 18kt gold Patek Philippe watch. Though worth more than a Rolex, it resembled a Timex and went unnoticed. Eric was out of place.