While shopping at a major retailer yesterday that specializes in selling automotive products, lawn equipment and gardening supplies, sporting goods, household products as well as paint, plumbing, and electrical supplies ("Canadian Tire" for my Canuck friends here), I spotted what I can only assume was a transman SA. If so, respect and more power to them, but the circumstances of my encounter were a bit unusual...
I was in the Garden Centre section of the store (in drab) looking for a replacement lawn mower blade, all of which were arrayed on a stand-alone racking unit in the middle aisle. The area was also pretty much devoid of other people aside from myself at that time. As I was looking over the selection of blades on display there for the right size, type, and brand etc. I heard what appeared to be a female voice coming over from the other side and consisting of a series of prolonged grunts, "ooh's", and sighs. At first, I paid no attention, but these noises continued on and on to the point of being very noticeable, if not downright annoying. To be honest, it was beginning to sound a lot like a woman in the throes of a series of intense orgasms (think "When Harry Met Sally" here
The next thing I saw was this SA heading over to her to ask if they could be of assistance, and I heard the now-familiar female voice again, only this time, it was clearly coming from the SA! I did an immediate double-take, but sure enough, that was where it was coming from. And when I say "female voice", I mean female voice - ...not just the pitch, but the rhythm, the intonation, the cadence - the works. The only thing missing was the "up-speak" that GG's often typically engage in. I actually closed my eyes for a moment so as not to be influenced by any distracting visuals and sure enough - it still sounded like an unmistakably female voice, and not just an unusually high-pitched male voice. So that's what it was...THIS was the person making all those grunting noises before while struggling with all those heavy boxes! Who'da thunk it???
I continued on with my business after that, still perplexed over what I had just seen and heard. I soon found myself in another part of the store, and lo and behold! - there was that voice again, this time with said SA walking right past me while conversing with someone else over their in-house mobile phone. And then it hit me...
Clearly, it would be highly unlikely for a genetic male to have that as their normal speaking voice - not even gay males who sometimes have a propensity to emulate female speech patterns when they speak, albeit still within the lower ranges. Was this person an F-T-M transsexual then who had recently transitioned, but whose voice hadn't been fully affected by the hormones? And yet - everything about this person screamed MALE! The angular facial features, the slim body with a noticeable absence of curves, wispy, thinning hair, a moderate amount of facial hair, and unmistakeable male body language.
Naturally, I followed the classic Star Trek "Prime Directive" here, maintained a discrete presence, and said nothing to this person that would in any way indicate my suspicions that things might not be what they seemed, even when we did interact briefly later on. On the contrary, I was secretly full of awe and amazement at the way that they had managed to live an authentic life, especially if it meant dealing with the general public on a daily basis, and despite the challenges that a gender non-conforming voice could present under those circumstances. Well done, indeed!
And we run-of-the-mill crossdressers worry about "passing" or "blending in...???
Live and let dress.
Originally Posted by Leslie Langford
