Pat

There is a local cross dresser who lives in the next town over from me. When we lived in that town, I would often see him at Kroger, doing his shopping.

I guess since the Mart of Wal opened a few years ago, he does his shopping there now. On Sundays.

I mentioned a few weeks ago on Twitter that I was going to the WM that day (Sunday) and a Twitter friend mentioned that I might see "Pat". I had no clue who she was talking about, but when she explained and I thought about the SNL character "Pat", it made sense.

After all, I do not know this person's name and I have never been able to work up the courage to talk to him, but he is very friendly. He will smile back if you smile at him. He walks with his head up, shoulders back. He clearly does not have an issue being noticed.

On top of all that, he really dresses to the nines (which isn't what one normally sees at a grocery store)and the outfits are reminiscent of the 80s. He also has a good time with make up, apparently and it's hard to NOT look.

He has these fabulous, long red nails - I don't know if they're real or Lee Press Ons, but they really complete the whole look.

The thing is, this does not disturb me in the slightest. I practically grew up with drag queens (which is a completely different thing than cross dressing or being transgendered). My best friend in high school performed in drag at a club downtown, so I was able to get to know all the queens.

I learned some of the best make up tips from them.

I'm fairly sure that all the queens I knew were gay, but the same can't be said of cross dressers. Often, they are heterosexual men who just like to wear womens' clothing.

I had not seen Pat in any of my several trips to WM until this past Sunday. To say I was thrilled is a major understatement. I stalked him for a bit, trying to work up the courage to say "Hi.", but I just couldn't. Maybe this Sunday?

The BEST part of the whole thing is to see the looks on other shoppers faces. People who aren't familiar with that lifestyle are often left with their mouths hanging open.

I saw one guy who had about half his teeth and overheard him saying to his wife (or whoever he was with), "Oh my Lord, did you see that?"

I thought, "You're one to talk, pal."

Ever hear a little saying: People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones? I think that applies here.

I'll keep you all updated if I ever strike up a conversation with Pat. I bet he's a fascinating conversationalist.