Needing to restock my favorite Italian lemon soda, I ventured off to the market last night. Fully femme, as I had been for most of the day, I picked up a basket as I entered and wandered around a bit on my way to the proper aisle. I nearly always shop en femme for groceries at this market, a large chain supermarket near where I live, so this was not anything out of the ordinary. Until..
..Until a woman about my age (senior citizen) standing in the aisle saw me approaching and asked "You're tall, would you mind reaching those potato chips on the upper shelf for me?"
Totally out of the blue, never seen this woman before, and just as natural as could be she was asking for my help to reach a bag of potato chips that was way out of her reach. I reached the bag, and as I handed it to her she started to discuss the price of the various chips, some on sale, others not, and which were her favorites. seemed like she wanted to talk, so we spent several minutes walking up the aisle together, talking about our favorite brands and types of potato chips, as well as the lemon and orange sodas that we liked. Totally natural, just a few friendly folks having a pleasant conversation in the supermarket aisle.
I gave up worrying about how strangers see me a long time ago. I am over 6' tall so this time my height was an advantage, leading to a normal conversation. This stranger apparently did not care one way or the other how I was dressed. A totally "normal" encounter at the super market. Priceless.
Have you had any similar experiences? Would love to hear about everyday, normal things that you have experienced.
Lauren