I dunno. This is a weird one…
• • •
LATE LAST WEEK I WAS sitting in my PCP’s waiting room. I was there for my annual check-up.
I had on my basic summer look: v-neck short sleeve t-shirt, bermuda shorts, leather sandals. Curly hair pulled back with two barrettes. Hoop earrings. Recent pedicure. Nice purse. Rimless glasses.
And I was reading a book, a mystery.
Another patient, a conservatively dressed 40-something woman, checked-in at the reception desk, then walked by me to sit directly across from me.
As she went by I moved my feet under my seat so that she wouldn’t trip. This movement, which people generally acknowledge with a tip of their head or a thank you, earned me a glare.
• • •
BUT IT DIDN’T END THERE.
After this woman, who had long straight hair and was wearing a long skirt, long-sleeved cotton blouse buttoned up to her neck and ballet flats got settled into her seat, she continued to glare at me, looking me up and down.
I began to wonder what she was seeing when she looked at me:
- A wanton harlot with bright red toenail polish?
- A stoned hippy wearing Birkenstocks?
- A liberal feminist reading, of all things, a novel?
I smiled back at her, as polite people do, then went back to reading my book.
• • •
SHORTLY THEREAFTER HER NAME WAS called, and because of the waiting room chair configuration, she had to walk by me again.
This time she glared + snorted derisively as she walked by me; she needed for me to know that she didn’t approve of me.
For some reason. Nonspecific.
[Another patient across the way, a woman dressed about like I was, rolled her eyes and grinned at me as it happened.]
• • •
NOW OBVIOUSLY I’M NOT LOOKING for validation from strangers who I encounter in my daily life, but the fact that something about me really irritated this conservative woman fascinated me.
And truth be told, I was equally fascinated by the fact that I rather enjoyed the sense of power it gave me over her.
I mean, if I can bother someone by merely existing in their view, imagine what I can do when I decide to speak. 😉
• • •
Question of the Day:
Have you ever found yourself on the receiving end of a stranger’s hateful stare for reasons you could not figure out? And if so, how did it make you feel?
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