Robert Roberta

Last week on Friday I was in the doctor's office. I was there because it felt like I had an ear infection coming on and the weekend was definitely coming on and I always seem to get sick over the weekend when doctors' offices are closed and I wanted to preemptively strike any illness before the weekend hit (I didn't thank God, turns out I just needed an over-the-counter antihistamine to help clear my ear canals).

As I was sitting in the waiting room, a patient came in. From the corner of my eye I sensed that something was different about this person. Without being rude, I chanced a longer, surreptitious glance and determined what the difference was.

My mind instantly fixated on a line from Bob Seger's ballad, Turn the Page.

Most times you can't hear 'em talk,
other times you can.
All the same old cliches
"Is that a woman or a man?"

It was a Transsexual. Male to Female.

Her name was Roberta.

I gleaned this information from the fleeting conversation the girl at the front desk had with Roberta as Roberta signed in.

"Hi Roberta, how are you today?" said the cheery front desk girl.

"Not doing too well," answered Roberta in a low octave.

"I bet you're enjoying this cooler weather so that you can wear cute sweaters," cheery girl said.

No reply from Roberta (she probably wasn't feeling chatty from not doing too well and all).

Roberta had on a gray, long-sleeved sweater, an ankle-length, denim skirt and cute (albeit larger than normal women's shoe size) sandals; kinda Roman-esque.

Roberta's hair was shoulder length, an ash blond with a little curl to it. I was sitting when I saw her, but I guessed her to be around 5'10" and about 60 years old (gosh, I feel like I'm giving the cops the description of some perp).

I couldn't take a picture of Roberta, but she looked similar to Stu Rasmussen, an Oregon Mayor. Roberta was wearing glasses if I remember correctly (remember I didn't want to appear rude and stare too long).

Seeing Roberta was a little jolting, for a moment.

I had hoped I, as an adult, and one who had lived in Key West for 3 and 1/2 years and saw much gender-bending going on, would not have blinked an eye when Roberta made her entrance.

Maybe it was the human nature that is hardwired into all of us that made me blink; the nature that causes us to desire and expect that males are male and females are female and never the twain shall meet. Maybe I had been away from Key West too long.

I think people like Roberta are courageous and I hope she is happy now.

I hope she is feeling better now and that it wasn't anything serious enough to ruin her weekend.