I agreed to accompany my wife on a weeklong business trip, and we decided that there wasn't any reason I needed to bring anything male along. So I find myself out and about in upstate New York as my femme self.
I can work anywhere, so my mornings have been spent in the hotel with my computer and an Internet connection. My wife is working until 5 every day, so I spend my afternoons entertaining myself.
I'm not all that passable, if only because of my height and weight, but people have been pleasant enough, and most looks have been of the vaguely amused type. I get "Ma'am" quite often and when when my wife we are repeatedly referred to as "ladies."
As I was shopping at the Lane Bryant Outlet store yesterday the SA was quick to ask if she could open up a fitting room for me, and was happy to help me pick out a matching top for a bright red skirt I had decided to buy. She was very nice, and as I was leaving I heard part of a converation she was having on the phone that went "that's not an issue. We're open to 9, the store is quiet this evening, and you will be perfectly safe." Might be my perspective but I get the feeling that I wasn't the first man she had seen on the store
My wife and I are having dinner at an upscale place this evening where I'll have a chance to wear the outfit I just bought. So I just got back from the local Merle Norman store, where the woman was more than happy to help me work up a look to go with my new outfit and I didn't even spend that much money . Her daughter (about 10 years old I would guess) kept telling me I was pretty; I told her that meant her mother was a magician and thanked them both.
I admit to being nervous, walking around on my own and getting read by teenagers and anyone who cares to really oo but so fsr it has been an anticlimactic exerience.
My wife asks me how I feel about it and I just tell her that's how I want it to be; not a special event,not something that we have to work around, not something hidden, just me being me and getting along in the world.
Four more days until we get back home; Friday and Saturday to be spent doing touristy things. I'll update as necessary, hopefuly first with a pic of my outfit for tonight