Stuff 55: Far Out?

By J.J. Atwell

No, that’s not a throwback to that 60’s phrase. In this case, I’m talking about being further out of the closet than just group meetings. Let me explain a bit more. 

I’ve actually only been going out as my girl self for about three years. I started by joining a local CD group that held meetings in a private, secure location. Even at that, the prospect of stepping out of the house as JJ was daunting. The whole time I was driving to that first meeting I was wondering if other drivers noticed me. I was literally sweating and shaking. 

It Gets Better

Like many things, the more you do it the easier it gets. That leads to doing more than just going to a meeting in a secure location. Soon it leads to going out to a restaurant as part of a girls’ night out with the group. It’s out, but still a safe environment. No doubt the group has checked out the location ahead of time and knows that it’s a safe place for us to visit. 

That then leads to an outing that might be in a really public location. Perhaps by going out to see a play. Yes, that’s what happened to JJ. Our group decided to do a GNO at a regional playhouse to see Tootsie, the musical. Of course, we preceded it with dinner at a restaurant that none of us had tried before. Both venues were welcoming and we had no difficulty in either place. Still, as part of group of over a dozen, there was some safety in numbers.

Time to Try Something Different

Recently a couple of CD friends and their SOs thought it would be fun to go to see Some Like it Hot, the musical. The theater is a major venue in the middle of the city. No hiding out there. Time to own it and step out in confidence. The location has a huge lobby where people can see and be seen before the show starts. It also has a congested exit at the end of the show where you are in close contact with other patrons. 

The evening turned out to be really fun. The six of us (three CDs with our SOs) went to a restaurant for dinner beforehand. We’ve all been to that restaurant before and knew it was welcoming to us. We had no adverse reactions with anybody who we interacted with at either place. Throughout the evening, we were universally referred to as ladies. The picture accompanying this post was from that night. I added a red shrug as the weather was on the cool side that night for a more festive outfit. 

Aftermath

At the end of the night, four of us (two CDs and our SOs) returned to our house for a nightcap. Funny thing happened then. Once we got in the house, the SOs decided it was time to get comfortable, which was girl code for taking off their bra. I say funny, because neither of us CDs rushed to take off our bra. For us, we enjoyed extending our girl time before returning to guy mode. One of the SOs was heard to say rhetorically that they wondered why we would want to wear a bra. Of course, we needed to wear a bra or our boobs would fall off. Sigh. 

I’ll Be Back

There will be more Stuff. As always, comments are welcome either here on the blog or by email to Jenn6nov at-sign gmail dot com. JJ is always looking for more stuff, so if there is something you would like to read about please let me know!

Wearing Bebe

Gale Gordon femulating in an episode of television’s Here’s Lucy.