Tag

One day last week, Herself provided transportation for her long-term Acquaintance, who needed a ride to a particular place at a specific time. Herself is always happy to give a lift (whether literal or metaphorical), and went about the task while en route to her other activities.  At the moment, Herself was dressed to attend to out-of-house matters; she was a tiny bit curious to see what Acquaintance -- who voices strong opinions regarding exactly what one should and should not wear for any and every occasion -- would say.

"You look quite glamorous."

That was unexpectedly positive, Herself thought, although she also supposed that anyone accustomed to seeing Herself in her usual yoga pants or jeans and T-shirts might indeed find slacks and a blouse to be rather on the glamorous side of things. Long-term Acquaintance further commented that she had seen a similar blouse at a particular high-end department store. Herself, contemplating the discount retail shop where she had purchased the blouse in question, was pleased not to have spent high-end prices on the garment.

At the destination, Herself hopped out of the vehicle to help long-term Acquaintance with her belongings, and Acquaintance commented, "Let me see what size that blouse is in case I see a similar one on sale."  She then reached up, grabbed the back of the neck of Herself's blouse, and wrestled out the tag to see what was printed on it. She then bade farewell to Herself and went on her way.

Sigh.

It was no use, Herself supposed, in just stating aloud what size the blouse was; Acquaintance never seems to believe Herself's statements about the sizes of her clothing.  That's not necessarily surprising -- it's hard to provide full coverage of a bountiful bosom without also having ample fabric present at the waist, and that oftentimes unfortunately results in a more voluminous silhouette than one might attain with a more tailored garment. In order to (hopefully) keep from appearing too dumpy, a woman with curves such as Herself's may wear differing sizes, depending on fabric, cut and style. "What size is that?" thus is a legitimate question.

Still.

Perhaps if Herself were three years old, it might be acceptable for an adult to take a quick peek at the tag in her shirt in order for the adult to ensure that any clothing gift would fit properly. Nevertheless, in Herself's opinion it is improper for a middle-aged (or any-aged) adult to be treated in such a manner in a public place.  It's needlessly invasive of her personal space. And it makes her twitch.  She wishes anew that she had an actual Personal Space Sphere to protect herself from such unwanted contact.

Perhaps someday she'll be able to shake off such happenstances without difficulty. In the meanwhile, though, she seeks out positive, unobtrusive physical contact with her Safe People (and her Tiny Dog) to counterbalance the transgression. That always helps her to feel better.