George W. Bush Is A Big Fucking Meanie! & Others.

[ralerin]

You know your day will start off interesting already when:

Do I LOOK Like I'm On the Clock?

Fair enough if I'm wearing my super high fashionable Aid of Rite polyester smock thing with my name on it; I can see where you would get a bit confused. But I think that if I have my purse and several items to buy in my hand that that's somewhat a sign that I might be leaving? I got swarmed by a few different people on my way out the door, asking for plates, charcoal, and whining about the pharmacy being closed because it's 4th of July Monday. But coming in, when I'm not even wearing said fashionable smock and coming out the doors in the back with keys and boxcutter in hand, ready to go to work, I still get swarmed. WTF?

NOT MY NAME

Yes, my nametag is prominently displayed on my chest. No, my name is not "Shorty". It is also not "<Smalferin>". And I am also not your buddy buddy. You smell. Go away.

A Wild Sunday Lady Appears!

Ah god, I forgot how fun dealing with crazy people are-just listening to her logic brightens my day. It involved the US, the state of NH, she trying to prove herself to people who hold her back, and possibly catfish with catnip. Oh, and unnecessary brain surgery and how people with brain tumors are being lied to and the doctors only do surgery for fun.

Yes, The Pharmacy Is Closed

No, I will not open it for you. No, I am not a trained pharmacist. No I will not get your prescription. I don't even have the key or the faintest clue how to ring up your precious pills. You should've done it yesterday when the pharmacy was open. Oh, wanted to relax with family? Sorry. You still should've done it yesterday.

MY CARD, IT'S MY PRECIOUSSSSSSSS

Dear Lady with the lost EBT card,

Really? You lost it a week ago and didn't think to call until today, Foodstamp Day to ask about it? Also: thanks for just hanging up when I said I didn't have it, just a click in my ear. Next time see if I'm so helpful.

Say it with me kids, all in chorus: "A LACK OF PLANNING ON YOUR PART DOES NOT CONSTITUE AN EMERGENCY ON MINE".

George W. Bush Is A Big Fucking Meanie!

When you're a tranny, there's doing it wrong and doing it right. Let's compare:

Tranny at the beer cooler: Yes! Classily applied makeup, well maintained wig, high heels, doing a damn fine job of imitating a woman's walk, dehairified arms, chest well proportioned (most probably stuffed but done well), matching clothes (can't go wrong with tank top, jeans and jewelry), pleasant and awesome attitude! You're a doll to deal with!

Tranny who this story is about: NO! Looks like a man in women's clothes, talks like a man in women's clothes, walks like a man in women's clothes, wearing men's shoes, a pink and black lacy skirt, two thin camis that don't match said skirt or each other, ugly, tattered headscarf thing, no makeup, don't bother to shave anything (I can see that 5 o'clock shadow and it's ugly) and an attitude like sour milk.

I go through the motions, asking him about the "Healthiness+" card and then somehow me telling him to have a nice day turns into a 5 minute, mumbled diatribe about how Bush is a meanie, people are hypocrites, he's some sort of a Buddhist/Christian/Spiritualist, which makes him more authentic than 90% of the people who live anywhere in the world and everyone judges him and hates him.

"Ok! Have a good night! Next!"

"Mumble mumble I hate everyone mumble mumble" *shuffle off*

Fair enough if you don't like Bush, but I'm not your soundboard, k? Politics are like contagious diseases: best kept to yourself.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Politics are like contagious diseases: best kept to yourself.

Ooh! Can I steal this for a tagline?

And yeah, you are getting a quota of "more colorful than normal" people there.

The tranny one...I feel for you. I've run into a few myself. Like you I have no problem with the ones who do a good job of it. I know they're a dude, and I admit I do chuckle to myself when I'm out of earshot...but when I'm dealing with them I'm OK with them and treat them as they wish to be treated. As human beings.

I've run afoul of one however that looks like a man wearing stereotypical "bull-dyke" lesbian clothing with makeup that makes Tammy Faye Baker's look like something done up in Cosmo, sounds like a New Jersey Teamster, and tried to hit on me.

I confess that I was unable to keep the look of disgust and horror off of my face.

[searssoulslave]

The bad tranny could have just been a transvestite and NOT a drag queen. The whole point of being a tranny isn't necessarily about looking like a woman, just wearing their clothes. Drag queens on the other hand are trying to look like women. Ask Eddie Izzard, he'll clear it up for you. ;-)

[Pagan]

Completely OT -

Mongo - I recognized that you sig is in Gaelic, but didn't know what it said. So I Googled it.

Got what it means....and you come up as the third, forth, and fifth hits!

This isn't the post you're looking for. Move along now. Move along. *waves hand around*

[ralerin]

Ooh! Can I steal this for a tagline?

And yeah, you are getting a quota of "more colorful than normal" people there.

The tranny one...I feel for you. I've run into a few myself. Like you I have no problem with the ones who do a good job of it. I know they're a dude, and I admit I do chuckle to myself when I'm out of earshot...but when I'm dealing with them I'm OK with them and treat them as they wish to be treated. As human beings.

Yes if you'd like! ^_^ I'd be pleased.

And yes; probably because of our location and level of busyness. The ones next door to the hospitals probably gets "oddly different" people, too. There is one tranny who I haven't seen in at least a year and a half who I miss. S/he always ordered a pack of cigarettes and was awesome to deal with.

And your line about treating trannies as human beings is QFT. I admit I do double takes when I see one or the white girl with a giant afro (who is half black so it's not so odd as it sounds) or people with "odd" medical conditions (such as those who have that robotic voice box thing, I JUMPED first time I heard someone up close with that!); but everyone deserves to be treated like a human being in the end, not a monster.

@Searssoulslave: And hm, I never knew that. Thanks! The more you know...

[Flying Grype]

Except 'he' is not a dude -- if someone is dressing female (effectively or not) do her the courtesy of using female pronouns.

[Magpie]

Except 'he' is not a dude -- if someone is dressing female (effectively or not) do her the courtesy of using female pronouns.

Can I get clarification on this: does it apply to non-trans cross-dressers too? I thought that since they considered themselves to be male that the masculine pronoun was appropriate.

[chainedbarista]

Say it with me kids, all in chorus: "A LACK OF PLANNING RESPONSIBILITY ON YOUR PART DOES NOT CONSTITUE AN EMERGENCY ON MINE".

there, fixed it.

seriously; something that important and it comes up missing? sounds fishy to me...

[Shalom]

people with "odd" medical conditions (such as those who have that robotic voice box thing, I JUMPED first time I heard someone up close with that!)

Same here. I used to work in a hardware store in a previous lifecareer, and one day a man in a suit and tie walks up to the counter, places his attache case on the counter, opens it up and pulls out this device. He turns it on, so it starts buzzing, and puts it to his throat.

I thought: Really? You came into my store just to shave at me? I mean it was exactly the size and shape of a shaver...

Then he starts talking in this buzzing robotic monotone. "DO YOU HAVE MICE TRAPS." That was when I realised what the device was. I damn near lost it, but with a heroic effort controlled my face and showed him where the mouse traps were...

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Except 'he' is not a dude -- if someone is dressing female (effectively or not) do her the courtesy of using female pronouns.

But (and here is the problem) not all transvestites consider themselves "female". They often times are as straight as I am (husband and father of three children). Their sexual orientation is towards women the same as straight men. Eddie Izzard (the executive transvestite) referred to it as "Male Lesbianism"

As another transvestite put it (might have been Eddie again, do not remember) "Women can wear whatever they like, why can't I?"

So when I'm dealing with face-to-face, I take the safe approach and use "Hi there, how can I help you?" and avoid using Sir or Ma'am altogether. Since I have not a clue as to how they wish to be called, I use neither just to be on the safe side.

[Flying Grype]

Okay, good question -- and I'm not really sure because I don't know any transvestites.

[Raventhistle]

About the Tranny thing- there are also Transexuals/transgenders.

That dude who's doing all the right stuff? Might be in the process of changing from a man to a woman. One of my best friends is transgendered (born a guy but is really a girl inside) and is changing her hormones, etc, so that she can be on the outside what she is inside. She does, however, have a more masculine shape and facial structure still.

She looks loads different than she did in high school, and it's obvious how she's softened and changed if you knew her then, but she still pings as male to some people. It's endlessly frustrating to be called Sir when you're trying to pass as a Miss.

So my advice is to avoid gender markers if you can, it's safer that way. Though I can't imagine a transvestive getting mad if you called them Ma'am or Miss. I can see Eddie cheerfully explaining that he's a transvestite, but thank you for the compliment on his makeup.

[Imogene]

So my advice is to avoid gender markers if you can, it's safer that way. Though I can't imagine a transvestive getting mad if you called them Ma'am or Miss. I can see Eddie cheerfully explaining that he's a transvestite, but thank you for the compliment on his makeup.

*steps into the thread, cause hir life isn't hellish enough yet*
Eddie Izzard mostly only does the makeup and heels for his stage performances any longer, but, much like Orlando Bloom around the time of Lord of the Rings, he is HOT even when he isn't wearing makeup. He has had a number of movie and TV roles (If you remember the movie Mystery Men? He was one of the gang leaders, and he starred opposite Minnie Driver in the TV show The Riches)

I'm going to go with Raven's suggestion about avoiding gender markers when you greet people. Even on days where I have no choice but to go out in drab, I still prefer to get called 'Miss', and yes, it DOES happen. Mostly when my hair is longer... but still. I am extremely content when people call me by something other than a gender. What I'm really trying to say is, it's more a common courtesy to get the t*'s preference of what gender to use when referring to them, as, first, you have to get to know them a bit, and attention/letting someone talk about something they love is always a way to make them feel good, and second, it makes you more comfortable around them.

My two copper, I guess.

[Lots42]

Except 'he' is not a dude -- if someone is dressing female (effectively or not) do her the courtesy of using female pronouns.

What if they have bad fashion?

[Fire_on_High]

"We have some lovely blouses for sale over in Ladieswear, miss!"