On occasion, while growing up, I was mistaken on the phone as “one of the boys”. My voice is not what you would call ‘high’. Or girly.
On occasion now I have men, women and children refer to me as sir, him, or he. The most recent was last week when a child held the door open for me at work. I thanked him as I walked away and the father, standing at the elevator told the child to “come on”. The child, as I walked away to the stairs said “I was holding the door for him”.
I’ve had some folks with vision problems ask me flat out to verify if I am a man or woman. Most notably the woman standing at the top of the steps in her home as I knocked on her door for the purpose of an investigation for work. As I walk in she looks down the steps at me, from her naked stance at the top of the step (she did have an open robe on), and says “are you a woman”? Yes. Yes I am. She tells me it’s okay then, she doesn’t need to be discreet. Uhm, yes, you very much do. Please.
I usually get a bit of a chuckle out of these incidents. And often times I roll my eyes with a sigh and some mirth.
Seldom does it bother me.
I’m kind of boxy built. And I keep my hair very short, for convenience sake. And because I like to spike it. And because I’m too lazy don’t want to waste life moments fixing it. I think we’ve covered this before.
But…
Today it is hot (thank goodness for short hair-ironically) and we are working on our house to home projects. Today my job was to stand in the sweltering sun and continue sanding the pickets. It was blazing. I got a hat out of the garage to protect my eyes and face from the scorch.
At one point I walked in the house, turning the hat backwards while I was in there so I could see inside the house better but not shake saw dust every where. And I notice Husband, as I walk in, do an involuntary lurch.
Do I need to girl it up some when I walk in the house and Husband thinks I’m my brother?
….
Nah.
🙂
