It's a small town

So I love to shop and always have my eye out for a deal. Besides the usual stores and online I also belong to a few local Facebook buy and sell groups and still even look at my local Craigslist.

Anyway yesterday I saw an ad on a Facebook group for two pair of Old Navy shorts in my size. So I message them from my transgender FB account and arrange pickup... It didn't even dawn on me until I pulled onto their parking lot that "Cristina" was a friend of a friend I know as just "Tina".:eek:

I forget how small this town really is. Good thing I was already out to these people.

Like you said, Good thing you are already out to these people. You just never know.

Egads. I have left a smoke trail they could see from space getting the hell out of there.

Glad it was all good for you, but it is a good reminder to be extra vigilant about who you're communicating with online.

I've bought femme items myself through local Facebook Buy and Sell Groups, but fortunately, my community is large enough to minimize the odds of me stumbling across someone I know "in real life" (IRL) while doing so.

I have a Facebook page in "Leslie's" name and do all my initial messaging, price negotiation, and obtaining pickup and payment information under that alias. When the time eventually comes for the rubber to hit the road, so to speak, I advise the seller that due to circumstances beyond "my" control, my "husband" will be picking up the item in question. Never had a problem so far, even when it involved purchasing a pair of "killer" stilettos. Invariably, the ladies were more than willing to sell to "us", and never batted an eye over the delivery methodology.

The only time I have ever deviated from this plan so far was a couple of weeks ago when I spotted a gorgeous wedding dress that looked as if it would fit me, and the price was quite attractive. In that particular case, I messaged the seller and asked if she would have any issues with potentially selling her wedding dress to a trans person. My reason was twofold:

1) I was concerned that trying on this dress in person might be required because dress sizing can be all over the map as we know, and especially with wedding dresses that have usually been altered as well from the original stock size to ensure the best possible fit for the blushing bride. Also, given the triple digit price, I didn't want to risk making a mistake and then suffering an expensive buyer's remorse.

2) There is a huge emotional investment that a bride-to-be usually makes in the whole selection, fitting, and alteration process when it comes to wedding dresses, not to mention the significance that these have in terms of what they represent on that special wedding day. In essence, they speak to the core of the bride's perception of her own femininity, sexuality, and desirability. As a result, I did not want to blindside and "creep out" the seller by revealing myself as a crossdresser who was potentially interested in buying her precious wedding dress before getting too far along in this process, so I thought it best to give her a "head's up" as to what I was all about beforehand.

Turns out the bride was quite O.K. with selling it to me, or to quote her: "Doesn't matter to me as long as you love it", accompanied by a smiley face. Sadly, the dress didn't have a corset back for additional adjustments as the seller had originally claimed, and this only came to light after I had asked her to message me a picture of the back of the dress (turns out she had worn a corset under the dress, but it wasn't an integral part of the dress itself). Judging from the picture, I knew it wouldn't fit me ("back fat" doesn't lie - LOL), so I begged off at that point. Still, there were no hard feelings either way, and the entire exchange of messages was cordial and as if two GGs were conducting it.

I understand the small town thing too.

I've looked at people's Facebook page and I have realized that if I don't know a person that I am either a friend of that person or a friend of a friend.

I've heard of the "game" 7 degrees of separation of Kevin Bacon, well in this town I am convinced I could be linked to everyone in my home town with 4 people or less.