I thought I was pretty adventurous yesterday by going out to a glbt community meeting... little did I know what was in store for me!!
I got dressed (wool jacket, jeans, heels, of course makeup and jewelery) and drove downtown to the community centre.
While doing some tight parking, I discovered my right front wheel started acting up. I barely got it to the curb.
So there I was in full dress, downtown Calgary, full of pedestrians and vehicles, with basically an inoperable car. Sun was still out.
I took off my nice wool jacket, got out, and proceeded (heels, wig and all) to jack my car up. Fortunately there was room curbside. A friendly guy on a bike offered to help, to which I deadpanned (in my only voice, male) "No thank you!". A quick examination determined that the tie rod was busted. A spare tire wasn't going to solve this.
So not letting it ruin my evening, I unjacked the car, left it parked, and attended the meeting. Turned out really fun.
I called in a tow truck, but heard that it'll be several hours, so I opted not to wait - they'd pick the car up off the street. Instead, seeing as I was right downtown, I walked a couple blocks to the train station, and took the train and bus home.
Fortunately, I was made up in what I'd consider "day wear" - looking nice, but not too eye catching. I'm 34 and have been told that I look pretty in dress. I was wearing the same wig as in my avatar.
I thought I was going to see 5-6 people at the glbt community centre, but instead half of downtown got an eyeful, including the city train. I think of all the people I passed on the street and the train, maybe 4 or 5 locked eyes with me and showed any signs of catching on. No one said a word.
I suppose you're wondering why I didn't take a cab home... What fun would that be? ;D
When life gives you lemons, and all that...
JesseG, thanks for that great little story. It highlights how it's all too easy for us sometimes to think that the world is a scary and difficult place, but when we get out there and try, we find that problems are often easier to deal with, strangers don't care what we look like, and everything generally turns out just fine in the end.
Glad it all worked out so well! :)
Talk about getting tossed into the deep end! LOL
Sorry about your car.
Sounds like quite an adventure, glad you made it home okay
Hugs
Thank you all for the kind words. Yep, the confidence boost was great. Like many have said before, we're our own worst critics, and it turns out the world outside is not as scary as we believe.
Despite the repair cost (which I guess I had coming sooner or later) I'm upbeat this morning.
The punchline in this story is that I actually had a great time at the meeting. Making some really nice accepting friends. Sitting there in my broken car I originally thought about calling for a tow right away and calling it a night. But then I thought "did I get all this makeup on just for the tow truck guy? Hell no!" Very glad I didn't cancel the outing.
Quote from: JesseG on March 13, 2014, 10:42:50 AM
Thank you all for the kind words. Yep, the confidence boost was great. Like many have said before, we're our own worst critics, and it turns out the world outside is not as scary as we believe.
So very true. I know that I didn't start getting the confidence I needed until I started getting out there more.
It does help that Calgary, in my experience, is a pretty accepting city as well.
Thanks for the story!
You are certainly more brave than I, so far I have avoided being out by myself in the daytime. I am not sure if people would just stop everything and start screaming "man in a dress" or if they wouldn't notice, but for me somehow the darkness feels so much more safe. It will be something I have to confront eventually, but right now I don't feel like I can pass.
Quote from: ErinM on March 14, 2014, 08:05:42 PM
It does help that Calgary, in my experience, is a pretty accepting city as well.
On a slight tangent - did you attend New Directions recently? I've only been to the last couple meetings.
Quote from: Hikari on March 14, 2014, 11:23:02 PM
right now I don't feel like I can pass.
You know, the funny thing is I didn't care so much about passing at that point. Sure, it would make it easier to move down the street if I were to blend in, but I knew that at some level, people would know. I've come to terms with the fact that I won't convince 100% of the people. I was more concerned that I looked well groomed.
I do regularly attend the Friday meetings and the occasional Sunday meeting when I can make it.
I haven't been able to make the last few meetings, but plan to go to the next one on Friday.
Thank you for sharing, Jesse. I'm sure your confidence is really high right now.
:)
Wow, that was a fantastic story; you are brave.
What a nice story. Obviously sorry about the expense for your car however it shows that we can do it. Just relax & do whatever is natural & has to be done. Mentally just relax & enjoy being a woman no matter the situation. You did good GF.