On visiting my second job of the day I was met by an old couple who told me that they had seen my advert in the newspaper but that they also had a business card. They explained that the details on the card, the phone numbers, were exactly the same and that I’d been there about ten years ago doing another job. Ten years ago I was pre-op. and my plans to transition were still two years away therefore when I did the job I would have been presenting as a male. In fact they were right. Now then what was I to say? Well at first I wasn’t really sure. Should I explain about my transition for they seemed to be saying that they recognised it was me the last time? ‘Well’, I said, ‘that card isn’t mine but it’s the same business’. I gave them my new card which shows my name whereas the old card didn’t. They seemed a bit confused and said that they thought it was me who had visited the last time. ‘Ten years ago’? I enquired. ‘It wasn’t me, it must have been somebody else’, I continued. They then said that the guy who had done the job was really nice and they were very pleased with his work. I smiled and it was obvious to me that they now thought I was indeed not that person. What I couldn’t understand was that they saw my new advert in the newspaper and thought they would have a woman electrician for a change and yet when I arrived they had thought that I had been before. I think they must be mistaken about it being ten years ago. I think I actually did the job about six years ago when I’d gone through my transition. In either case I’m not really sure. I could have explained things but thought, ‘Why should I’? That has been my policy regarding my transition. I will only reveal on a ‘need to know’ basis.
Shirley Anne
