Small town blues

[Lizzy66]

Today I was and about and decided to stop and check the local Sally for some new jeans, and low and behold there is a person I know that also knows my SO. There is a Wal-mart here, and a Kmart but every one in these places know everyone and I am sure it would get back to her. Now I do not know where I am going to go.

[Steph_CD_62]

I know how you feel. It seems that no matter where I go here in town, I run into someone that I know. I finally got to the point if I wanted to go shopping for girly items I would either go with my wife or I would go to Wal-Mart around 8am on a Sunday. I have all the clothes I want, but I enjoy looking for something new. It doesn't bother me what the employees might think about me, but I am more concerned if I run into someone I know and I have some girly item in my shopping cart.

[Jean. Ann]

I try to go at least 100 miles from home to go out dressed or shop

Jean Ann

[Aeval]

Same here...I won't shop in town unless I'm dragging my SO along. Even then I'm always watching over my shoulder.
It's not the most comfortable way to shop.

[Marcelle]

Hi Lizzy,

That is a bit of a conundrum. Is it possible for you to go out further away from home. Now I am assuming from your post that you were not dressed "en femme"? Not sure what the Sally store is . . . female clothing only or boy/girl. If boy/girl not a big issue you could have just been shopping for yourself.

Hugs

Isha

[Tracii G]

Just go shopping and act like its normal to be in the ladies dept.Nobody is going to pay attention where or what you shop for.
The fear is of your own making.

[Alice Torn]

Maybe Ebay! I buy almost all my dresses, tops, skirts, pantyhose and heels, and wigs there.

[Annette Todd]

Isha,
Sally is a beauty supply store.

[Lizzy66]

Sally is short for Salvation Army. And I was looking for womens jeans.

[Beverley Sims]

Lizzy,
Easy, shop out of town.

You don't need to dirty your own nest so to speak.:)

[Nikki Love]

Living in a smaller town has many advantages and of course the disadvantage you mention; you can never be anonymous. This has been my fate for many years, balancing my needs with small town living. So I have loved online shopping, I can return items if something fits poorly. Being online gives me the entire world as my shopping cart. But I also enjoy the out of town shopping experience in larger cities when travel is possible.
On the same thought, amazon always gives me funny combinations of items I might like since I am also buying construction related tools, photo equipment and history books. I'm sure their computer has a hiccup when pegging my shopping patterns.
Nikki

[Alice Torn]

I lived in the greater Seattle area for 30 yrs, now for the past four, in small town Illinois. Totally different, although, i often ran into people who knew me in stores in the Seatte Tacoma area!! Small world.

[kimdl93]

Remember the lines from an very old song...paranoia strikes deep..into your lives it will creep... So what makes you think that this mutual acquaintance knows or cares why you were there? Relax, shop where you wish and stop imagining problems where they don't exist.

[Nikki Love]

Remember the lines from an very old song...paranoia strikes deep..into your lives it will creep... So what makes you think that this mutual acquaintance knows or cares why you were there? Relax, shop where you wish and stop imagining problems where they don't exist.

I agree, most people would probably not care who or what you are shopping for; but small town living and crossdressing, or shopping to dress as such, could create problems for the grade school teacher in a conservative district, the doctor, the attorney, the accountant, or any public figure who depends on the public support of small town residents who may or may not be far more conservative than large city residents.

I do not wish to have my private life become the focus of a local public forum. CDing is a fraction of who I am, but in a small conservative town, it would take on larger proportions. I love to shop in San Francisco, were the focus is finding the perfect pair of heels. In a small town, finding any size 12 heels would be a challenge, let alone explaining to a client, a patient, a parent, why you need a 44c underwire when clearly your wife is a 32b.

I know some very brave individuals have skillfully bridged the ' open CDing' gap in a small town and are treasured citizens, but I suspect they are the minority. I will continue to shop in private and online.
Nikki

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Lizzy, You just never know who you may run into while shopping.

[CrossJess]

There is only 2 shops I go into hear in the uk, River Island and Primark I'm never fussed about walking around the woman's section and to be honest when I'm clothes shopping I'm too much in the zone of "oh that looks cute, aww that look gorgeous, does that colour go with these shoes" etc to notice what's going on around me , clothes shopping is my life lol :o yea ok I may bump into a few people but hey ho!

You could just buy off line, 98% of my clothes come from ebay because I can buy stuff that looks more brightly coloured and way cuter than what I would find in the shops, anyway you can still return them if you don't like them or they don't fit.

[mariehart]

It can happen in big cities too, meeting people you know. I was in a big shopping mall near where I lived. I can't remember what I was shopping for but suddenly a man spoke to me. I turned around and there was a work colleague who lived on the other side of town. Luckily I didn't have a bra or anything incriminating in my hand!

I now live in a smaller city now and you can almost guarantee you'll meet someone you know. But so far it hasn't happened. But I don't need to and panic without anyone even looking at me.

Crossjess, I love Primark too or Penneys as it's called here. Only this morning I went in and was oohing an aahing. There is some fabulous summer stuff there this year. But a male shop worker just glanced at me and I ran out the door. Damm it!

[Angie G]

Hi Lizzy nd welcome glad to have you with us. I don't go out dressed But have ran into someone I know and this city isn't sall.:hugs:
Angie

[RobynC]

I live in a small town just North of Philly. I've never gone out dressed walking through town here. It's most likely I would run in to someone that knows me or I panic and stop in my tracks if I recognize them. I don't really think anyone would recognize me dressed, but my natural blue eyes stand out and if someone knew me well enough, they may think, she looked really familiar.

[Lizzy66]

I just want to say thank you all for the helpful info. It's just that the town I live in is really small, you can not walk down the street without running into someone you know.
And going out of town does not work either, nor does shopping on line.{no credit card} so what a girl to do. I am sure I will figure it out.

[Jorja]

I try to go at least 100 miles from home to go out dressed or shop

Jean Ann

This only works some of the time. I once took a trip to Niagara Falls, NY just to get away for the weekend. That is about 325 miles from home for me. I ran into at least 30 people I know.