My wife bought a ton of new clothes last week. After getting home, she found that one top didn't fit, and the SA's at Macy's didn't take the security tag off of a pair of trousers. So she asked me to return them for her.
I decided to make it a CD challenge. I dressed up for the visit to Macy's customer service.
With the nice warm weather I assumed the mall would be busy (Castleton Mall in Indianapolis). I had no idea! It was packed like I've never seen it. The parking lot was filled all the way to the edges.
Deciding to go for it despite the nerves, I felt fine walking into Macy's. As I approached an empty service desk it seemed like it was going to be a piece of cake. Just before stepping up to the counter, a man stopped to talk to the SA's. I chickened out and walked away. After roaming around for 10 minutes or so, getting more nervous by the minute, I found another empty service desk. The woman wasn't overly friendly, but she did her job. The mission was accomplished!
After that I walked through part of the mall, then back through Macy's to my car. No dirty looks that I noticed. No laughing that was audible. It went OK. Wish I didn't get so nervous!
I've been going out to dinner with friends quite a bit lately, though always in "friendly" places. It was starting to feel like I was really getting used to being out in public. I'm finding that a TG friendly restaurant is still a lot less intimidating than a crowded shopping mall.