What is Odd Anyway?

I recently commented on another person’s blog. She had mentioned that perhaps people were getting used to us. They no longer looked at transgender folks as an oddity. She said, I don’t know if people are changing and becoming acclimated to folks like us, or if my own perceptions have changed. I agreed with that assessment and said, I think you're right about society. They are more accepting or less afraid.

Right after I wrote my comment, I went out for the evening. The looks I received and the way I was  
treated shocked me. Okay, so it was a small Utah town, and I wasn’t entirely enfemme, but I thought diversity is what makes us human.
Perhaps it was a little early in the year for my denim Capri’s, pink ankle socks and deck shoes, but I’ve worn my pink camp shirt many times before. Add my sundry unmentionables, (but they couldn’t see those). Then put a lack of makeup, or wig, into the bowl. The results of the mixture . . . I looked different.

While waiting to be seated in the restaurant, I became the subject of

conversations at many tables. People, apparently, couldn’t take their eyes off me. I felt like a fever blister full of puss.

After eating and being gawked at, I went to a convenience store for chewing gum and was looked over by a boy. (Well, at my age, they’re all boys). He noticed the shirt and I watched his eyes go down to my feet, and my shoes must've clinched it. He shook his head. I was pegged as an oddball.

These days I don't really care about other opinions. I have a hard enough time with my own criticism, but the censure of those people surprised me. It took years to be able to buy my own clothes. Now I don’t hesitate to admire pretty things and check for my size. I wear my handmade TGLB bracelet with pride, and I go pretty much anywhere.

There was a time when the ridicule would’ve shut me down and driven me back into the closet, but I’m too old for that. Still, I need some new hair, teeth, FFS, and I need to drop four dress sizes. I do, however, dress my age and weight. After all, I don’t stuff myself into clothes made for a runway model. I don’t wear sexy clothes. I’m middle aged and I dress that way. I don’t want to look odd.