Over the past several months, I guess mostly due to the neighborhood where my job is located, I’ve made an observation.

Men are quite blatant in the way they check out women. Especially their backend parts.

It isn’t like I’ve never seen a man stop and stare at a woman’s ass. That kind of thing has been happening for decades… maybe centuries in some areas. I’m not opposed to checking them out myself from time to time. If a woman is walking in front of me and has a nice bum, I’ll appreciate it from afar. Really, it’s the sway of her hips that catch my eye, but I’m not writing my next erotic story here so I won’t get too detailed about that.

I’m not painfully obvious about it, though. What I’ve witnessed on a several-times-a-week basis lately is the men walking in the opposite direction, and as they pass these women, they’ll literally stop, turn around and stare until the woman has continued too far from view. When I’ve been within earshot of these incidents, the staring is usually always accompanied by a groan or a shake of the head and a “damn!” comment.

Being that I can’t relate because I’m not the type of woman whose ass attracts unwanted stares and also being that I’m not one of those “stop objectifying women” feminists, I find this more comical than anything else.

If any of you have strong opinions one way or the other on the subject, I’d be interested in hearing them.

Current Mood: Amused

Why do so many who live a life of privilege assume they’re entitled to more, and that they are above following certain rules?

I was at the lab again today for more blood work (yes, I’m ok, just getting my iron levels checked to ensure I’m not anemic). There were several signs posted both outside on the door and in various places of the waiting room forbidding the use of cell phones. There was an older man sitting a couple seats away from me, dressed in a suit and with a stethescope resting on his lap. The waiting area was small enough that I could hear parts of his conversation with the woman next to him, I assume a colleague or his wife, about dialing in on a conference call for a patient of his. He proceeded to do so… with his phone on speaker mode.

Almost immediately after the recording for the conference line started, the clerk behind the desk stood up and said, “Excuse me, sir, but cell phone use is not allowed in here.”

The man said, quite annoyed, “I’m a doctor and this is an urgent call.”

Clerk, still professional in her demanor: “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to step out in the hallway.”

The doctor stands up and walks to the counter, he lowers his voice and mumbles something that doesn’t make its way clearly to my ears. However, the clerk still responds in a tone loud enough that I can hear, “I’m sorry, but it’s company policy so you must step out into the hallway.”

At this point, I’m watching and listening intently - along with the five others in the room.

The doctor says, “Fine, then I will use one of your phones,” and starts to walk around and behind the desk. This whole time, his phone is still on speaker mode.

The clerk at this point is becoming annoyed, and rightfully so in my opinion. She raises her voice noticeably to stop him from proceeding completely around the desk and says, “The best I can do is place the phone on the counter for you to use, but you cannot come back here.”

I guess that wasn’t enough for the good doctor, so he walked out in somewhat of a huff and conducted his business in the hall.

I could be wrong, but from my perspective, the doctor seemed to think because he was a medical professional, he was removed from the rules set forth by the lab. Clearly the call wasn’t a private matter if he was going to conduct it right there in the lobby, so I see his lack of consideration of those around him and the disregard of the company’s policy as he felt he was entitled to something more.

Sadly, it’s nothing new.

Current Mood: Awake

Stereotype #1: Because I dress in mens clothing, I must be a dyke.
Stereotype #2: Because I make no effort to look feminine, I must be a dyke.

Ok, so these stereotypes are true. I have no issues with these “labels” at all.

I know many people who are completely against labels and stereotypes in general, but the reality for me is, stereotypes are everywhere and sometimes necessary for proper classification and/or description of someone or something. In the lesbian world you have (to name just several): butch, femme, soft-butch, androgynous, futch (a mix between butch and femme but contrary to current popular belief, Tila Tequila did not coin this term, she just brought it into the spotlight with the Dani Campbell craze).

Alas, this post isn’t about gay or lesbian stereotypes in particular, I just felt mentioning them was a good way to lead into talking about stereotypes and how even me, a “stereotypical dyke,” relies on them, wrong or right.

About a month ago I was waiting for a friend outside of a bar/pool place in downtown DC. I was in the middle of texting another friend but noticed a man several hundred feet away and walking in my general direction. In my quick assessment, I also noticed he was slightly swaying in his walk and was carrying a brown paper bag covering a bottle of some sort. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that weren’t exactly filthy, but weren’t freshly laundered, either.

Assumed stereotype #1 and #2: This guy is probably homeless and that bottle is most likely full of alcohol. (I assumed this because the area in which I was has a few “parks” that attract the homeless who beg the business people for money. It’s a good plan, in all honesty, but this detail will also help explain my next assumed stereotype.)

I stayed focused on my texting and before I knew it this guy was passing by me but had slowed considerably in his pace. He then stopped and opened his mouth to speak to me.

Assumed stereotype #3 led me to say, before he said anything to me at all: “Sorry, but I don’t have any spare change.”

His back went rigid and he said, rather indignantly, “I wasn’t going to ask you for money.”

So, I immediately apologized and explained I had been asked by two people in three mere blocks for some change and I assumed his intentions were the same. He then went on to point at his labret and ask me about my piercing, if it hurt, why I got it, etc. I answered his questions and, for lack of a better word, we chatted for about a minute. His speech wasn’t overly slurred, but I did get a glimpse at the bottle protruding from the bag and have no doubt it was some brand of whiskey.

He walked off, I finished my text and continued waiting for my friend, who had texted she was running late. This gave enough time for the guy to actually walk back and pass me again. I met his gaze as he looked at me. He pointed at me, smiled and said, “no more assumptions, okay?”

All in all, there’s no way of knowing if I was wrong, or if I caught him off guard enough by speaking first and he simply lied about his intentions… and because of that, I’m torn between admitting I stereotyped him incorrectly or if I was indeed right.

Current Mood: Doubtful/Skeptical