The mid-month social was
scheduled at the same restaurant in San Francisco that my first
meeting had been held at. Once again, I wanted to take advantage
of it, and spend more time en femme wandering around San
Francisco before it. So, I scheduled an appointment for 4:00 p.m.
at the local salon that I had been visiting since my first outing
as your Fairy Godmother back in October, 1995.
I had already shaved, and had my bra (as yet unaugmented!) and pink, short-sleeve sweater top already on. I wore the same white shoes that I have worn several times previously, and went to the salon wearing a pair of men's pants, and a nylon jacket. I arrived there on time, just as a man was paying for his haircut. I first went into the restroom, and changed into the pink and mint green plaid skirt that I had brought with me, filling out my figure at the same time!
The owner then shampooed me, then wrapped a towel around my head. Then I went into the facial room and layed on the table for my makeup application. As usual, she did an amazing job, including doing the eye makeup that I have yet to master. The pink lipstick that I had brought with me was too light in color, so she used her own lip pencil, lipstick, and gloss on me.
Then it was time for my hair. Both she and the other people who have done my hair for an en femme effect have chosen a fairly full style for me, so she set my hair using medium green and pink velcro rollers, and rolled the dryer over to the stylist's chair. I sat there for about thirty minutes. She then removed the rollers, and styled my hair using a wide-toothed styling tool, with some light back-combing. She then sprayed my hair with hair spray. She was kind enough to take these pictures of me there. I paid her, gathered my belongings, and left the salon at about 5:30 p.m., after ninety minutes of pampering!
I walked toward the nearby BART station. The low clouds from the ocean had rolled across the bay and were overhead. I wanted to spend the evening wearing just the outfit that I had on, but had my thin jacket in reserve. The trip to San Francisco was uneventful. I was just another rider on the train. I'm still getting used to the sensation of sitting without having my rear pockets stuffed with my wallet and other things. The skirt, naturally doesn't have any pockets! When the train emerged from the subway the sun was shining--the clouds hadn't made it there, but I could see them sitting menacingly in the distance above San Francisco.
I got off the BART train at the first station in San Francisco, and transferred to a Muni streetcar headed toward Ocean Beach, which runs in the subway under Market Street. I had a seat briefly at first, but gave it up to someone later. When the streetcar reached the surface, I could see that, as expected, the clouds that I had seen were covering the city. Instead of heading all of the way to the beach, I stopped in a shopping district along the route for some coffee.
I walked toward the rear of a coffee shop there and placed my order for coffee and a muffin. The coffee was served in a paper cup with a plastic lid. I sat at a table facing the street, and removed the lid, since I wanted to minimize the damage to my lipstick! While there, I had my first interesting encounter of the evening. A man was there with three children, one boy and two younger girls. First one, then the other of the girls turned and gazed at me with a wide-eyed look. I was expecting one of them to say something like "there's a man wearing a dress," but they didn't Instead, I smiled at them and they both smiled back at me. A number of women who had just made purchases at a nearby beauty supply store also came in while I was there.
When I had finished with my coffee, it was nearly 7:00 p.m. I still had plenty of time before the meeting, scheduled for 8:30. I wandered around the district, and made some purchases at a neighborhood store there. I then took the streetcar back toward the downtown area, and transferred to a different surface streetcar for the ride along Market Street. Near the Civic Center I got off to wait for the bus which goes near the meeting place. It was coo\\\\\l, and the clouds had lowered to be touching the tops of the tall buildings nearby. The bus was late, having picked up a patron in a wheelchair who got off at the stop where I boarded.
While waiting at the bus stop, I also had some interesting encounters. The first was with a woman who was transferring to the same bus, apparently to go home. She asked me how long I had been waiting, and we also talked about The Wizard of Oz, which is playing in a stage version across the street from where we were. She asked if I had a cigarette, but I replied that I don't smoke, and offered her a stick of gum instead. She left the bag that she was carrying in the bus shelter, put on her sweatshirt, and walked toward the corner to look out for the bus. A little later, another woman came by to wait for the bus, and we had a pleasant conversation as well.
The bus finally came, the man in the wheelchair was let off using the wheelchair lift, and the three of us boarded, along with some other people who had arrived. We were all able to find seats, and I rode the fairly short distance near the front of the bus. I said goodbye to the ladies I had spoken to, and walked the long block to the restaurant.
I arrived a little after
the scheduled time of 8:30 p.m., but knew from past experience
that people would be gradually drifting into this mid-month
social meeting. I saw some friends through the window, and some
others in the bar area when I entered. I joined the two, who were
eating, and ordered fettucini with mushrooms, which featured
Shitake mushrooms as well. Jamie Fenton of Transgender Forum
joined us as well. We had a nice conversation, and I shared some
pictures that I had taken during the preparation of our group's
float in the June 28 Gay Pride Day parade. Some
pictures of the preparation are displayed here, but without the persons involved. Since all of the
people (except for me!) had been wearing their normal attire,
even my friends who had been in the organization longer than I
had trouble recognizing them!
After we had eaten we went into the bar area, and talked with some of the other members there. I also showed them the pictures that I had taken. We also had some interesting interactions with the patrons there, including with one young woman who insisted on having her picture taken with several of us. One of the members was kind enough to take a picture of me as well. The turnout at the meeting was light; in fact it was the first meeting that I had attended where neither the officers nor Dianna, our reigning Miss ETVC, were present.
As always, the clock was moving along, and I left at about 11:15 p.m., in plenty of time to catch a BART train back to the East Bay. Rather than walking several blocks to wait for another bus, I walked all the way back to Market Street. After entering the subway, I waited about ten minutes for the next train. The ride home was uneventful. I used the women's rest room at my destination station before walking home under the overcast.
This page last updated: August 20, 1999
