Our trip to TN was ripe with several affirmations of my femininity, despite that previous issue at the big box store.
Another notable affirmation turned up during our visit. (Not sure how I was referred to by F-I-L before this happened, if he did at all). A service man at our son’s house noticed my nails (in front of son’s father in law), and he brought the topic up. “Where do you have those beautiful nails done?” (A suitable comment men make to women!) Did my stirrup pants, tunic, bare ankles and ballet flats make him think I was a girl? My answer was 100% truthful: “In Maryland.” “Oh.”
I must have disappointed him with my explanation. The discourse began about “my wearing shiny gel on my nails for over 25 years, as the only workable antidote for chewing them to the skin.” It’s no lie…that’s what a hairdresser in a small town in upstate NY put on them after she watched me chewing my nails while she worked on my hair back in the 1980’s. (Bitter-tasting nail polish had no effect…) And she even helped me buy the gel, dremel-type grinder, and “blue light” box to cure them, so I could do them myself! Which I did, for many years.
“Eventually I began to seek professional nail care, as they always look nicer when a tech does them!” (I omitted the minor detail of “especially with the pink-tinted gel she uses!”) “But the result was, and still is: I no longer chew my nails… My tech insists I NOT trim them myself, and she trims them after they are sufficiently long – typically every second visit. A month from now they’ll be a lot longer than this. Before you ask, typing is a challenge, but I’m used to it.”
Fortunately, after my explanation, the subject fizzled out. Son’s F-I-L didn’t seem overly disturbed by the revelation, even though he still “rides the Trump Train.”
Lots more to come…stay tuned!
Mandy
Mandy's Miscellany 