Let's see, I left off in the first post with our LGBT fan giving us a shout-out as we walked to the shoe store in the mall.
I felt a little relief that we were walking in opposite directions, and that there wasn't any follow up shouting :-) While it is an outside shopping mall, it is still a shopping mall!
After that completely unexpected excitement, my girlfriend and I just looked at each other, smiled, and kept walking to our destination. I wanted to take her picture in front of the store we went to because it had a cool entrance, but she declined. Maybe that was my way of stalling a few minutes before entering?
My nervousness jumped up a bit as we walked in. I looked around the store to see what type of people were working and shopping there. I didn't see anyone (at least on the surface) to be intimidated by. I was mostly looking for rough & tough manly men that might be prone to make a scene if they were to read me as a transgendered person.
So now we're in the store, which I should mention had plenty of full length mirrors. At first I thought GOOD! I can check myself out in the mirror to see if I need to adjust anything. I do that, half-trying not to be noticed, but then I think it's not unusual for women to take advantage of mirrors and reflective glass all the time to check their appearance, so I adjust my hair a little bit, as nonchalantly as I could.
Meanwhile Miss is looking at the shoes and boots on display trying to see what she'd like to try on. I stay close to her most of the time, but that seemed awkward to do for too long, so I occasionally walk away from her checking out the various displays. There are two or three other groups of people shopping at the same time, someone paying at the counter, etc.
I'm pretty sure that the "HEY GIRL!" shout-out just before had already popped my already maxed out stress bubble (meaning what I had hoped wouldn't happen already had), so I was already softened up some for whatever was still to come. Or at least that's what I told myself as we entered the store :-)
None of the patrons seem to really notice me, although now I'm thinking the plentiful full length mirrors are not a great thing after all, as it makes it harder for me to keep my face oriented away from anyone that might be wanting a longer look at me. Yes, I was at the height of my paranoia for this day.
Even so, all this time I'm talking with Miss about what she's looking at, what she likes or doesn't like and why, so I can help look for other styles she might be interested in. This was actually really fun, but my nervousness did take a little away from me *fully* enjoying it stress-free.
At some point a salesman approaches us. This was really the first interaction I was planning/expecting to have with a stranger while on this girl mode adventure. And obviously that was inevitable given this was as shopping trip intended to result in a purchase. Mentally, I had prepared myself during the drive to "ride it out", however it went.
He speaks to both of us, doing his salesman spiel, and I honestly don't think he batted an eye at me! I made myself talk with both of them as he was helping us. If I was out there, I wasn't going to short change myself on any aspect of the experience.
He talked to us about the differences between the different lines and styles and quality. Miss and I both asked him some questions and he was just great. After speaking with him for a while, both Miss and I figure he's also in the LGBT club, under "G" :-) I don't think I could have been any luckier in that regard!
Miss lands on a style she likes, he measures her shoe size, and goes back to bring her a couple of different sizes to try on. Viola! We have a winner!
We talk a bit more with our salesman as we walk to the counter to pay...... I look on the counter to see if they have an ATM swipe and PIN pad..... Don't see one, maybe they pull it out..... He rings it up.... I don't have a purse so Miss has the ATM and Visa cards in her purse..... I ask her to get out the ATM card and I hand it to him... He swipes it behind the counter and I'm thinking oh shit!!! My guy name is on the card, and will he hand me a PIN pad or not?.... Nope! He prints the receipt and presents it to me to sign.... Surely he noticed my guy name!... Next he's going to ask for my ID for sure, as the shoes were not cheap.... I sign it.... I'm still nervous as hell, waiting for the "other shoe to drop", to have to present my ID........ And.......WHEEEWWWW! He hands the card back to me and asks what to do with our copy of the receipt!
We thank him and head back out to the mall.
Mission accomplished!
OK, I think there is just one more post coming on this trip. Our walk to the car to stash the shoes in the trunk, and our walk to the beach.
This was such an incredible day! Mind-blowingly great!
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