Today I was actually clocked for the first time in about a year. I was in the train station between the main school I teach at and my apartment. I decided to buy a drink at the convenience store and I noticed a woman in there that I've seen on occasion. I always notice her because she's a smart dresser and she is taller than a lot of the women here.
Anyway, I was standing in line and the way the store was laid out she and I were side by side in line. For some reason we both looked at each other. I noticed for the first time that she had an Adam's apple peaking just over her neck scarf and she glanced down and noticed my chest. Almost in unison she nodded toward my chest (my binder had slipped at little) and touched my neck to let her know her scarf had slipped. There was that mutual look of "hey, just so you know, you're showing". She tugged her scarf up and a rearranged my sweater and bag until I could get to a bathroom.
We both walked out at the same time and as she walked past me she leaned down and whispered "you're safe, handsome. Glad to see a friend." I told her "glad to know you, lovely." She winked and was on her way.
I haven't been clocked in so long and of course it would be a transwoman who spotted me. Ladies don't miss a thing, I tell ya. It was really comforting in an interesting way. We have two different languages and cultures and everything else, and we still had that rare (and funny) moment of human connection. She was really lovely though. If I was single and straight... Lol
Lovely!!
oh my gawd that was adorable. <3
Oh my! What an amazing moment, it sounds like something out of a movie haha :)
A helpful big sister when you needed it. ;D
What a cool moment. Thanks for posting about it. As Nattie said, that's like something out of a movie.
That was beautiful!!
I'm guessing this was either a trans woman or someone who had a trans relative. But sounds like a pretty nice encounter. She seemed to know a bit too much for a complete lay person and seems like she was "noticing" you.
--Jay
Jay: she was trans. I wouldn't have given her a second look if her scarf hasn't slipped. To those who are not "in the know" I doubt they would have clocked me.
It was such a cool experience. I told my husband and he was just as surprised as I was.
a very pleasant story.
Quote from: Nattie on April 17, 2014, 07:17:50 AM
Oh my! What an amazing moment, it sounds like something out of a movie haha :)
Exactly. Simply perfect.
That's pretty sweet.
Cute story. =)
Are you sure you're not on the Truman show or something?
Quote from: luna nyan on April 18, 2014, 05:15:03 AM
Cute story. =)
Are you sure you're not on the Truman show or something?
Haha. I know, right? There's actually a lot of trans folks in Osaka. I know if at least two that live in my city. A lot of people from all over the country come to this area since its the mist friendly part of Japan, and it's the second largest city so they can get medical care. My husband knows of a transwoman student at his university and one who is at least a male cross dresser.
I have to say I haven't spent too much time in Osaka - only day trips. The funniest one was when I did a takoyaki crawl (I think I went to about 7 stalls over a 90 minute period). I'm far more familiar with Tokyo and Nagoya.
I really don't know much about help for transgender people in Japan - all I know of is that they're still at the Donahue stage for trans people.
"この美人実は男です！"
"え～～～～～！"
Typical jp talk show/comedy show segment. =.= (For those who don't know Japanese, it's a typical title segment: "This beauty is really a man!!" "audience shock!")
That makes your little story even more amazing then! :D
Ha, that's actually kind of adorable. Awesome that you were able to help each other out a bit :)
that's a great story :)
I feel like that should be a short film.
Quote from: luna nyan on April 18, 2014, 06:07:12 AM
I have to say I haven't spent too much time in Osaka - only day trips. The funniest one was when I did a takoyaki crawl (I think I went to about 7 stalls over a 90 minute period). I'm far more familiar with Tokyo and Nagoya.
I really don't know much about help for transgender people in Japan - all I know of is that they're still at the Donahue stage for trans people.
"この美人実は男です！"
"え～～～～～！"
Typical jp talk show/comedy show segment. =.= (For those who don't know Japanese, it's a typical title segment: "This beauty is really a man!!" "audience shock!")
That makes your little story even more amazing then! :D
Oh don't even get me started on the え~~~~~~~~~?! Lol. God, I hear that so much. Over the tiniest thing. My favorites are always 「外人くん！」followed by 「え----------？！」and 「ホモーホモ！」
Translation : "foreigner (male)!" Whaaaaaaaa?!" And "gay guy!" Always followed by either "whaaaaa?!" Or "amazing!"
Yep. I'm amazing alright... :D
I don't know much about Nagoya but I spent some time in Tokyo. I much prefer Osaka. The Osaka Obaachan are just delightful. They are so cute. Osaka really is pretty friendly though. One of the mayors in Osakaken declared his city/suburb a safe haven for the LGBT community. If you ever find yourself over in these parts, it's worth a few days. Though, most of Japan considers it the dirty cousin.
Quote from: GnomeKid on April 18, 2014, 02:56:07 PM
I feel like that should be a short film.
I'm very tempted to turn it into a short story.
Quote from: Ayden on April 18, 2014, 06:39:38 PM
I'm very tempted to turn it into a short story.
You should, it's great. Like Gnomekid said, I can totally see it as a short film at the next queer film festival in my area. Absolutely perfect.
Awwwwwwww, that was a cute and adorable clocking. I agree that a short film of that would be awsome! :)
I hope it is not rude to say that reading this made my day. Just absolutely adorable! :)