A new experience for me. My boyfriend needed something from asda and as we'd been walking the dog, I waited outside with him. As is often the case, the dog was mucking about dropping and chasing his tennis balls. So I encouraged him to lie down and I squatted down next to him to try and keep him still/calm. Happily gazing at the scudding clouds I was a bit taken aback when a kind blokey offered me a pound coin. I gently explained I wasn't collecting money but said he was clearly a generous man and we chatted about dogs a bit.I'm not sure which one of us was more embarrassed, that mistaken assumption and how I could best reassure him I thought he was kind.
It's not something to be ashamed of, and any of us could need to beg at some point in our lives.Of course it means I've questioned how I might appear to others but as you probably know, I'm not too bothered as to what people think.
Earlier this year, when referring to 'my partner' the person assumed my partner was female. I was really pleased that someone would make that rather than a heterosexist assumption. I suspect that if I was in a relationship with a woman, most of the time I'd be facing folk who assumed my partner was male.
As someone who has mainly dominant rather than minority identities, it's interesting to get a tiny glimpse of how people can make wrong assumptions about who we are.
I'm leaving for work from a place other than home - now that is weird!!
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