Passing
I think I've made it pretty clear that I don't pass, or certainly don't expect to. So when it happens, I'm pretty dumbfounded. I'm sharing this not to brag, but because of how negative we can all get about ourselves, and not sometimes see ourselves as other's see us.

In this case I found out about three weeks after it happened.

I was attending a friend’s party. It was a fun occasion, and I won a prize for bringing a great hors d'oeuvre. I talked with friends, and my hostess's sisters-in-law and generally assumed that people read me and went along with things. Later in the party a tall woman accosted me and said "I'm so glad to see another tall woman here." And we talked for about a 1/2 an hour, mostly about her need to find a new job. I promised some leads to sources I'd used recently (not that they'd helped me...but you never know). I sent several emails and heard nothing back.

In chatting with my hostess later I confessed to being a little confused about the lack of response. Among other things, when you're doing a job search it's really bad form not to promptly thank anyone who throws you a line of any kind. I was concerned that she'd decided I was too risky to be associated with or something like that...a half hour chat at a party is one thing, but actually going past that was a spur of the moment error on her part.

My hostess found out that she'd gotten the email but was deluged with health problems, and her husband's slack business.

Shopping
Even though I’m out a lot, the usual shopping at the mall isn’t my thing. One of my favorite stores is “Coldwater Creek,” and I’m pleased to report good treatment when I stopped by after a meeting nearby to the Legacy Village branch. Coldwater Creek is pricey, unless they are having a sale, and they were having a 70% off sale. I was browsing the sale racks and the saleswoman came up to me and asked if she could help. She rattled off a list of people who I might be shopping for, to which I raised an eyebrow and said, “How about an alter-ego?” I won’t say she didn’t bat an eye, but she did recover quickly, pointing out where I could try things on if I wanted and so forth. If you want an idea of what they carry look here: www.coldwatercreek.com If you want to drool over even pricier clothes for holiday parties and sophisticated entertaining, try: www.peruvianconnection.com

Passing, Deux
And, then the Saturday before Halloween I was helping a friend from book circle with her computer. The relative who was supposed to get new ink for her computer hadn’t. So I dashed off to the local big-box computer store. Again, I experienced astonishment as I had absolutely no reaction from anyone. I had thought, well, I can get away with this, you know, claim a costume party that I was on my way to. I had to ask for one of the ink cartridges…nothing. No widened eyes, no looking me up and down, no raised eyebrows and no whispers behind my back.

Thanks
It’s noteworthy that we’ve received a thank you card from the people whose space we borrow for our meetings. We make a donation each month based on our revenue. It’s nice to know that’s appreciated.

Coming Up
Note that our December meeting will not shift to the first Saturday of the Month as usual, but will stay in the second Saturday of the month slot. Chloe has arranged for a group outing to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” production at Cleveland public theatre on December 2nd. Contact Chloe for more info, or better still to sign up. (Gloria is also reported to be working on a really hot Holiday Play this year.)