A Trip Down Memory Lane

        Every once in a while, I run across a person who thinks somehow my path to this point in my life was easy. Somehow they think I mysteriously learned the basics of moving into the feminine gender effortlessly.   That idea is about as real as I had a choice to be transgender or not.
        Here is an example from "back in the day" which proves my point:
       
Approximately five years or so into my second marriage I decided that trips to crossdressing meetings out of town with my wife weren't enough so I decided to leave the house during the day for a little stroll around the neighborhood.
        For kicks and giggles, lets rack up the stupid points as we go along.
First of all, I lived on a busy street and I was a very public person. I served in several volunteer organizations and managed a big chain business in a town of around 100,000. So anyway you cut it, leaving the house dressed as a female was risky to my marriage and employment.
        Don't get carried away yet and start totalling points yet girl friends- there is more!
You more mature folks will remember the Urban Cowboy movie and the resultant cowgirl fashion craze of sorts. Short jean shorts, boots and blouses tied off at the waist was the basic look. So, who was I not to follow the current fashion craze?
Being the fashionista clothing designer I am, I took a pair of my womens jeans and cut off the legs-really short- butt cheek short. Hey, I was just following a not so smart but all so common crossdressing fashion disaster.
        Go ahead and award me a couple more dumb points!
Now, I know you are dying to know my can't miss guaranteed way to get busted as a man dressed as a woman fashion mistake!
Most men have a good looking pair of womens legs. Almost certainly, one of your first compliments dressed as a woman at that Halloween party was wow! you have great legs. The problem becomes two-fold. The first is those wonderful legs of your just happen to be attached to the rest of your body. The body with those big feet, no hips and big shoulders.  The other is your male ego which just went nuts with the praise. If showing a little leg is good showing a lot is heaven! Well, no and get that stupid stick ready.
I certainly possessed the legs but of course had no hips, the big shoulders and the fashion sense to screw it up further. I didn't have a pair of boots so I substituted with a pair of wedge style heels and made the biggest mistake of all by tying off my blouse at the waist. Visualize a triangle with the tip at the bottom and that is exactly the way I looked. I might as well put a sign around my shoulders saying "Hell yes, I'm a guy!"
      In all fairness, I was just trying to get out of the closet and into the real world- with very little information and help. My trip through the neighborhood in the short shorts was a wonderful example of doing everything wrong and I was lucky.
I'm a believer in any luck is good-  blind or not and most of the time you work to create your own luck. Bottom line was the trans goddess was watching over me (and laughing).  I wasn't  recognized coming out of the house and the neighborhood sidewalks were empty in the middle of day. Most people had jobs then.
By this time, I'm sure you are thinking - are there any smart points on the board?
Well, I was smart enough to begin a long  painful learning experience which helped me to become the transgender woman I am today.