This morning I was waiting outside the grocery store for it to open, when a lady on a nearby bench asked me for a dollar.
"Sorry, I don't have any cash," I answered. And my answer seemed to shock her.
"Oh wow. Your hair had me fooled," was her answer. Which perplexed me endlessly. Why would my hair make her think I had cash on hand? Why was my answer so shocking to her?
An hour later at home, I realized with a shatter-pause.
She (correctly) thought I was a girl, and my voice made her change her mind.
I was extremely heartened that someone would recognize me as femme in public, and simultaneously, am now all the more self-conscious about my voice.
