Friday, July 13, 2007

Yakkety Yak

Tonight we went out for dinner at a restaurant across the street where I ordered a yak burger. It was made of yak meat, which I'd never tried before. But more notably, the meat was from a Wisconsin breeder called the Green Bay Yakkers. It was quite tasty and very well seasoned.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Exchange with Woman II

There's a woman at work who sits in my wing, but who is part of another department. I've worked with her briefly once or twice. She's always nice, but has sort of an urgently distracted air about her - one that seems to go along with being a project leader or supervisor. So she never would stop to chat or anything when I'd say hello, but I sort of admired her for it. Always importantly busy.

The day we were leaving for Texas I was heading out of work early. She was walking downstairs behind me and was suddenly compelled to strike up a conversation... about the size of my waist. Now she's probably in her late 30's to early 40's, and I always thought she was perfectly attractive for someone who worked a full-time, sedentary office job. But for some reason my waist bothered her. "You're so tiny! Every time I see your waist, I think, 'Ahh, I can't look at you!' ", she said that day.

These conversations make me very uncomfortable, though I haven't had to deal with them since my early college years. So I was wholly unprepared to respond and was just able to stop myself from apologizing outright. But all sorts of inadequate responses came pouring into my head as I stammered lamely. I always feel compelled to explain myself, or to act like I know
exactly how she feels, though I don't think I've ever consciously resented a woman for being more fit than me, or of a more attractive size / shape.

I don't mean to sound over-confident - I'm very self-conscious and often insecure about how I look when I'm at work. It's just that I've always been a fairly small person who thoroughly enjoys a good tennis game, bike ride, or the occasional jog. I could try to put on more weight, but it would involve not doing things I enjoy and things that make me feel good. I wondered if I should explain to her about my thyroid disorder. I decided instead to complain about how my pants don't fit at the end of the summer from all the bike-riding I do. "Hehe... I guess you just can't win", I simpered. I felt like such an ass, but thankfully she laughed and started talking about baking pies and eating them. I don't think she was really convinced that I could relate on that topic, but maybe if she keeps talking to me she'll discover that I also genuinely enjoy baking and eating pies, and that I'm not starving myself in order to make people feel bad about themselves.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Exchange with Woman I

Just before we left for Texas I set my bike down on top of my inexpensive sunglasses and broke them. So after running my last few errands downtown, I decided to take a peek around for a new pair and perhaps stop for some ice cream. I went into a store called Tiger Lilly 2, where I'd never been before. I was immediately greeted by a very friendly young woman who seemed bored by her empty store. The sunglasses were right in the front, so I explained to her that I already found what I needed. She asked if she could show me the new Dolce & Gabbana's ("I make everyone try them on! Heehee!"). I tried them on to humor her, though they were roughly 3/4 the size of my face. When she told me the price - $250, I explained further that I was just hoping to replace my old four-dollar pair from Target. She said, "Well, we'll be upgrading you to a $12 pair, but I'm SOOOO good at picking out sunglasses for people", so I decided to give her a shot. I'm sure she was being honest with me, but I think her fashion sense was seriously conflicting with my sense of practicality (which generally fills the void where my fashion sense would otherwise be). It was terrible and awkward and I hated everything she made me try on. I tried to explain about the non-mirrored, oval-shaped lenses, the reasonably small size, the plain brownness of the frames. She argued with me that if sunglasses are too small, they make you look "squinty". I wondered how anyone could call me squinty if my eyes were hidden... but I just shrugged my shoulders. Finally she relented, "well, we have another store down the street that has a much bigger selection... ". The other store was to the right; my car was to the left. So I thanked her, told her I'd head over right after I got myself some ice cream, and exited to the left. I got the ice cream and I drove straight to Target, where I bought two $7 pairs of sunglasses. An upgrade, I'll admit, but I'll pay the extra money to retain my dignity and shameless practicality.