Sex Change

Funny things have happened to me throughout this month. Literally the stories I have to tell will leave you laughing for days.

Here we go…

I had to give a presentation for my Russian Politics class about two weeks ago. The teacher called a break and told me I would be going after we returned. I felt a little nervous so decided to take a trip to the bathroom to make sure I looked presentable.

As I walked down the hallway I noticed a woman walking in front of me. She stood out because I initially thought she was a man. I recognized she was a woman only because she had a little curve in her hips. She weighed about 117 pounds, short hair, boy’s shorts, boy’s stripped polo shirt, and boy’s flip flops. I was truly mesmerized by her and my mind began to wander. Was she a lesbian? How did I know for sure she was a woman?

Anyhow as I continued to walk down this hallway behind her, she was walking towards the woman’s bathroom. The place I was headed! This caused me to think even more about bathrooms. What if she had a sex change and decided to use the men’s bathroom because she identified herself as a man rather than a woman? What restrooms do people use that have a sex change? For instance a man that has used the men’s bathroom his entire life might feel awkward going into the women’s bathroom even though he had a sex change. Believe me this was a really weird day because I have no idea why my thoughts took this turn. The story gets even weirder so read on….

The man-looking-woman walked into the woman’s bathroom and I, subconsciously, walked into … the men’s bathroom!!!! I was so busy thinking about sex changes and bathrooms that I didn’t realize my mistake.

As I entered the men’s restroom I took notice to the change in color. The bathroom was green instead of pink but I chalked it up to being a bathroom I had never used on that floor before. First I washed my hands in the sink. Then I fixed my hair and started to think about the presentation I had to give in a few minutes. I decided to use one of the stalls, when my mind switched back to sex changes and bathrooms. I said to myself it would be hilarious if I actually walked into the men’s bathroom without knowing it. I looked around the bathroom to check to be sure that there were not any urinals around and I didn’t see any.

I chuckled to myself and proceeded to go into a stall. There was human waste in that stall so I backed out and started to go for another stall when I noticed….. URINALS!!!! Folks I had been in that bathroom for about five minutes. I even looked around to make sure I was in the “women’s” bathroom and still wasn’t aware of my surroundings until I caught the glimpse of the urinals out of the corner of my eye. This was a hilarious Crystal moment. I looked around the bathroom to insure that there weren’t any men in there and ran to the door. I peeped to make sure no one was around and ran into the woman’s bathroom. I had to laugh at myself. Oddly enough the man-looking-woman was still in the woman’s bathroom and we washed our hands at the same time and exited the bathroom together.

I learned a lesson that day. Our own life experiences, thoughts, stereotypes, and familiarity will cloud our vision so that we see what we want to see. I can’t make assumptions about people based on my perceptions. What I see might not be the reality of the situation. While I am I Bulgaria I hope I will look, listen, and learn before I make assumptions about Bulgarian culture.

From inside the men’s bathroom,

Crystal