Reality Knocks

There was this movie not so long ago called Reality Bites. I am not going to talk about the film but I love the name. And it is one of those phrases that can have multiple meanings. I always like the insurance company that has the tag line "The Company You Keep". Hat's off to some Madison Avenue genius. Now of course the "Bites" that we most think of is the usual. As put by Bill Murray and Laraine Newman some years ago on a SNL parody of Family Feud. Murray: "Name something you bite", Newman (as Connie Conehead): "The big one." But that is not the context I am thinking of. I am thinking of this as Reality has actually bitten you.

And of course that happens, you do something, probably stupid, it turns out poorly, and you suffer the repercussions of that. Reality bites you. Now sometimes you get the benefit of a precursor, a harbinger, a warning shot across the bow. In those cases, Reality does what I call Knocks. Like your neighbor tells you at 11PM, hey your garage door is open. It says "hi there dumbo", you better do something about that, or else, well you might get bitten by reality.

And thus was my experience last night. For our regular readers I apologize for covering old ground. So I am not a FT girl (I wish it was other, but so it is), this means I am me pretty much only at group meetings and the subsequent after dinners. While en route to said dinner last night I noted a local officer of the law make a quick U-turn after my passing him. I instantly knew what the issue was. A headlight. Mine.

A week or so ago I noted it was out, and so I purchased a new one, and intended to put it in quickly but the access to the location is convoluted at best in my truck and so I did not do it. And so goes my story, because naturally the officer needed to do more than just make a U-turn, he had to stop me because, well karma I guess.

You see I have played that scenario like a hundred times in my head, what if a cop stops you when you look like this, what if you are in an accident etc etc. I don't want to sound like a mamby pamby (that is the technical term by the way), but if you are not FT, have the right letter on your license, changed your name or done any of that stuff, to the "system", you are a guy, in drag. And so, as I pulled over, and waited with flashing blue lights behind me, drawing attention to my normally shy, stealth self, I realized, reality was knocking, and so was the officer on my window.

I had read, that when stopped en femme, even if the officer decides you are female, you need to be up front, so I dropped to guy voice, and handed over the requested documents. He said I stopped you because you have a headlight out. Mind you I had my fogs on, which are white, so there were actually 3 headlights running at the time of the stop, instead of the required 2, but ok, this is not the time to get technical with a cop. I told him I was aware of this and had just purchased a new one and it was in a box in the back seat. He glanced with flashlight and confirmed this. He stepped away to his cruiser.

Now, all of the other girls en route to dinner are passing me, and wondering, gee who got stopped? And to make it even more interesting a second, and, then a third cruiser, arrives. Must be a slow night, and a guy in makeup, and cute clothes, with a headlight out must be interesting. I wonder what the call that went out was. (Hey we got a 10-96 here on a 10-38, I need a 10-60, go ahead look it up, I will wait here). After all of that, he comes back and gives me a written warning notice. Helps get me back into traffic. Does not sir or ma'am me for the entire exercise.

But, he was polite, and professional, and he could have been otherwise, and I guess I am glad I live in generally non-redneck America, where otherwise I might have been dragged from the car, arrested, and maybe even in some parts beaten to death. I am not saying that happens often, I am just saying it has happened, someplace, sometime. And I have now survived my "event", which makes me wonder, ok now what. I mean, if that was the worst thing you can think of, what else could be out there. Now I know that there probably is something but I also know that when reality knocks, you need to answer the door.

So I took three things away from this, one I need a letter from the shrink, I think they call it a carry letter or a transit letter or something. You have it in your purse, just in case there is a question, especially if things get dicey. I believe it states stuff like this person has a GID and is under my care and if he looks like a she that is normal for her. I was lucky and there was no issue. The second thing is, make sure you are not attracting attention to yourself, you don't want to get stopped, then fix the friggin headlight. But that applies to how you look, what you wear, and how you present yourself. I want to also think that my presentation, which is just 40 something soccer mom, helped. And lastly, maybe getting your greatest fears out of the way and knocked off the list is not necessarily a bad thing. I was dreading going out in daylight, that seems pretty mild now. Oh sure, I will be nervous, but it will mostly be about presenting well, not about what will happen to me.

So in the end, I survived this, and as I look back, I am a survivor (will talk about that stuff soon). Or as I have joked in my best "Conan the Barbarian" voice, "What does not kill me, makes me stronger!". It is true, and perhaps reality knocking in this case is a good thing, and frankly, if it knocks rather than bites, it almost always is a good thing.