What Will the Neighbors Say?

I used to worry all the time about what the neighbors may think about me. Before I made it to my who gives a damn thought phase.

Plus, our house is spaced close together with all the others and the cars are always parked in the driveway. There would be no escape even if I wanted one. I quit worrying so much too when I went full time. Which I had pretty much been, since I moved down to Cincinnati.

One lesson I did learn was to be the first to speak. The idea has worked well if I encounter anyone else during my daily walks and when new neighbors recently moved in.

Then last fall, our one neighbor added another person to their household, a young very androgynous woman from Louisiana. Since they have a daughter approximately the same age, Liz and I have had fun speculating if the new woman may have romantic ties to the daughter. Which may explain some of their apparent acceptance of me.

It's also interesting because they are very religious too. Of course I don't know what faith they follow. It's not so easy to speculate because even when Cincinnati remains very conservative and anti LGBTQ because of it's strong Catholic heritage, several of the cross dresser - transgender group I am in are totally out and accepted in their parish. We even have a Methodist member who has found a Methodist Church here in town which has gone completely against the church's recent ruling not to accept LGBTQ clergy.

Whatever the case, it's always nice to be accepted in your own neighborhood.

The "Castle"

I remember when I started to transition into the feminine gender in public, one of the biggest misconceptions I had to change was the Ladies Room. I did know from my days as a restaurant manager the "room" wasn't the "castle" most men thought it to be.To be blunt about it, I encountered too many bloody messes when women couldn't be bothered to dispose of sanitary products properly.  Also over the years, I overheard much more gossip along the way than I ever heard in a men's room.

Slowly and sometimes painfully, I learned I wasn't always welcome in the "room" too. In one case I was screamed at and called a perve and even had the cops called on me in another. Fortunately, that was years ago and now I don't experience many problems (at all) and have really enjoyed the increase in gender neutral bathrooms. I think even though it has been over seven years since I have had a real issue, it only takes one person to trigger another problem. 

For another take on rest rooms and my Mardi Gras restroom post, here's Connie:

Woman's Room

"Been there - on the stinky restroom dilemma. One can't help but be a little embarrassed, and it's not like you can try to explain to the next person in line that it wasn't you.

It's been so many years since I've used a men's room that I am almost unable, anymore, to remember the difference (other than the urinals). I can say, though, that I was surprised to learn that the sounds and odors in the ladies room were worse than what went on in the men's rooms I had used for most of my life. Maybe it's because the ladies room is a refuge, where a lady can finally relax from all of the expectations that come with being one by the outside world. What goes on in the stall may not stay in the stall, but it still stays inside the ladies room - one hopes.

Considering what goes on during Fat Tuesday, it might be a good idea to avoid ladies rooms for a couple of days, anyway. I know that the traditional Cajun cuisine does a number on my system) :-)"

So true!

Off to See the Wizard

It's travel day with Liz today and a cold one at that. Wind chill temperatures are expected to "hover" around 20 degrees (F) today. So Spring has not sprung yet.

Today, I am going with Liz to her Doctor's appointment, to her office to pick up a piece for her computer (she works from home) and go to the drugstore to pick up her new prescription.

Unfortunately, we are not down in New Orleans for the annual Mardi Gras celebration. We were able to go several years ago.

As you can imagine, it was quite the experience. I remember quite clearly the transgender PTSD I still experienced when I went. Needless to say, that was a wasted emotion. No one remotely cared. The most embarrassing moment came as I was coming out of a women's restroom in a restaurant we stopped to eat at. The person who used it before me (to put it lightly) made it smell very foul. Unfortunately, the space was very small and it retained the odor quite well. I attended to business in a hurry and opened the door to a line of women waiting to use it. Needless to say, the first couple of women in line were not entranced with me and probably unfairly blamed me for the smell.

Looking back on the whole trip, restrooms seem to dominate. I also remember quite clearly having to stop at a road side bathroom stop on the Alabama-Mississippi border. Two women read me as I was leaving and I spent the next half hour on the tour bus wondering if a cop was going to pull us over. Nothing happened.

None of that takes away though from the wonderful party atmosphere of the whole event! I had been to New Orleans before (not on Mardi Gras) and my second trip did not disappoint either.