The bums get the gender right

[~Seana~]

Ok so tonight I'm walking to a date for coffee to meet someone I've chatted with The date goes okay but not the important part. I'd put thought into my attire and it was someone wanting to meet me as amanda but I'd told them I'd be in "mostly boy mode" . Well it's cooler here in canada now so I figured I could easily get away with my girl-jeans and a male coat over it . Now add I've been growing my hair out and it's now getting shoulder length . I'd spent some time with a straitening iron with the help of my spouse Tobie and done my hair as nicely as I could but I figured with no makeup whatsoever I'd be taken as male. My shoes were actually womens but were just slightly nice runners in a neutral color (tan) .

So it is I head off and I'm walking up the road and I deliberately choose a route up one side wanting to avoid the "yo-home boys" of the housing project on the other side. Even still though there's a bum there, I've seen him out there before and as I'm walking by deliberately avoiding eye contact I get "Excuse me miss can you spare some change?" I nearly stopped in my tracks.

Tobie says it's the jeans and my slim build.

KinkedAmanda

[Jessica Who]

Interesting story, thanks for sharing :D

[JessicaD]

if it were me i wouldnt have ever been happier to be greeted by a bum

[donnatracey]

if it were me i wouldnt have ever been happier to be greeted by a bum

Heck with the change in my purse/pocket....I would have dropped a bill or 2.....and really made the bum's day!.....:D

[Teri Jean]

Donna I agree, drop a five and thank him for the compliment. He made your day.

Teri

[Holly]

I find your use of the term "bum" offensive and judgmental. Do you know why this person was living on the street? He could have been a victim of the economy for all you know. He had the decency to recognize you for who you are and yet you judge him? How is that any different than others judging us as misfits? Being homeless does not make one a bum. :sad:

[~Seana~]

Sorry if the term offends you. And of course no one can know their reasons for being where they are in the economic scale. I can tell you I've seen the same person asking for change near there on many occasions as I live nearby, and as a gentle irony, it's quite nearby a Labour place where they hire anyone off the street even on a daily cash basis to do things like recycling or landscaping. So I have to think that if he's there asking for change, day after day, it's because they want to be. I dont know what else I would call such a person

Amanda

[Holly]

The irony, dear Amanda, is that without knowing anything about you, he treated you with dignity and respect, yet you cannot do the same for him. You look at him and see a bum- 1. a person who avoids work and sponges on others; loafer; idler. 2. a tramp, hobo, or derelict. He looks at you and see you for what you see as yourself and respects you for who you are.

[Hali]

Its nice to hear such a story..........trying to look like a guy yet being identified as a female.

It doesnt matter whether u call the guy a bum, this days the term is used more often to identify a guy u just mate on the streets, there are T-shirts men wear this days with "am a bum" in front, yes it might be offensive but when told to his face, but that wasnt the case, so i guess there isnt much of a worry.

[Sally2005]

The long hair will do it every time! Hope you didn't wack him with your purse. :heehee:

[Laurie909]

Where I live they wouldn't ask you for money. They're more likely to say "Hey baby, how about a cigarette?"

[christinek]

At the SCC in Sept I was all excited about my new (the one in my profile pics)natural colored wig (same as my natural color) and I was all dolled up with well done makeup, I headed from my room to the elevator and rounded the corner passing a gentleman who said excuse me sir, my ballon popped and instead of 5-11 I felt 1/2 inch tall.

[SuzanneBender]

Good for you hun. Nothing feels better than an unsolicited Mam or Miss while you are out. I would walk that way all the time and slip him a five spot just to make you feel good both for giving and the Mam.:love:

[terrinoble]

I was lost in downtown Atlanta on a Saturday night a few years ago - and a homeless guy helped me find what I was looking for. I tell all about it here. (http://terrinoble.com/trip.html)

[~Seana~]

I doubt the guy is homeless. The location I chose was a coffee shop that happened to be nearish to across the street from a geared to income housing project.He likely as not lives in that project.I never said homeless, and I dont assume that he was most people asking for change in Ottawa arent, though some percentage would be I suppose they are usually pretty identifiable, and have a trailer with clothes and gear nearby.I think it was actually holly who said they were probably homeless as i said I'd assume not. I'm actually pretty low income myself, and live in a low income unit by the same housing corporation run by the city.No-one knocks the guy for asking for change, and I certainly dont. It's just a part of living in the city that if you go certain places you'll be stopped 3-4 times going down the street and asked for change.You learn to not ever be seen pulling out a package of cigarettes because you'll have people running accross the street to ask for one. In fact if you smoke you try and hide when you're having one or the same thing will happen.But holly is right, I said "Bum" which isnt exactly correct. It paints a certain picture and I dont necessarily always express my words well. "Panhandler" would have better described the persons activity, but either would have had some negative context with it.Ottawa has actually had some issues with a fair number of "professional panhandlers" My point is that's what they were doing and their purpose for being there, so what else is there to say? It is what it is.

Either way it was a nice confidence boost from an unexpected source.And no purse, as i said I was being discrete , and the laptop bag I had with me did NOT look like a purse.

Amanda