Thursday, April 7, 2016

On the Road

This is the only photo I have of me and my Subaru. I must get more photos with the favorite car I ever owned.
I have driven my Subaru thousands of miles cross-country cross-dressed. My experiences as a woman driver were revealing to me.

(Funny story: After I purchased my Subaru back in 2007, a lesbian friend remarked, "How appropriate," because Subaru's are reputed to be the vehicle of choice among lesbians. I had no idea!)

• If I wear shorts or a short skirt or short dress when I drive, tractor trailer drivers will occasionally honk in appreciation of the view. Even though I am an old lady, I have had this experience more than once.

• No surprise here, but male drivers will take advantage of woman drivers. Men drive more aggressively when they cross paths with me. They assume that I will back off and give them the right of way, which I usually do, not because I am meek and mild, but because I am crossdressed. I do not want to get into an accident, then have to deal with civilians and police as an outed crossdresser, which showing my driver's license will clearly reveal.

•  Following up on the previous point, I drive legal as a woman driver. I closely follow all the rules of the road because I don't want to deal with police as a crossdresser. My understanding is that in my neck of the woods, dealing with the police is not an issue because they have been trained to deal respectfully with our kind. Beyond my neck of the woods, who knows? In any case, who wants to deal with the police respectfully or not?

• Car trouble as a woman driver is a piece of cake. You won't break a nail or get a smudge of car grease on your skirt fixing the problem. Being an AAA member is one solution, but instead of waiting for AAA to show up, just look helpless and soon a gentleman will stop by and do the dirty work. It happened to me once while shopping at a strip mall. When I returned to my car with my purchases, my car would not start, so I opened the hood to see if that would help. It did! Within minutes, two gents in a pickup truck pulled up, assessed the situation and determined that my battery was dead. They carefully explained to me how to start the car by popping the clutch and I was quickly on my way.

•   Passing is easy as a woman driver. Just use your turn signal to indicate what you are doing and when the passing lane is clear, speed up to enter the passing lane. After you passed, use your turn signal again and return to the travel lane. Seriously, passing as a woman is easier sitting inside your car. Tinted glass and reflections off the glass camouflage your appearance, so your are less likely to be read sitting in your Subaru. Waiting at a traffic light one night, a guy in the lane next to me rolled down the window on the passenger side of his car and tried earnestly to engage me in conversation. I ignored him, but I assumed that I passed especially since it was dark.

• During long roadtrips, you are likely to need to use a restroom. I have no fear about using the ladies' room in Connecticut because I know the state laws protect me, but I feel less comfortable using the ladies' rooms in other states because their state laws may not protect me. However, I will feel even more uncomfortable if I don't use the ladies' room, so I do what I have to do and have never had a problem. For what it's worth, I have successfully relieved myself in ladies' rooms in the following states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

And so I go.



Source: Intermix
Wearing Elizabeth and James.

Artur Chamski
Artur Chamski on Polish television's Twoja Twarz Brzm Znajomo.

9 comments:

  1. Very pretty outfit. You look young and feminine.

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    1. Thank you for the kind words, Susan. I was definitely younger --- the photo was taken 5 years ago!

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  2. Cute dress! Oh yeah and BTW I've owned three Subaru's.

    1989, 1994, 2004, my brother is still driving the 2004.

    I've switched to a RAV 4, which was a nice change

    But still , love the Subaru and the crunchy-granola image that goes with them

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    1. It's my second Subaru. My first had over 200k miles and probably would still be running today if the body had not rusted away!

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  3. Before I transitioned I was still working and I bought a Prius Generation II back in 2003. I was the first one in the state to pre-order the gen 2 so I got the very first gen 2 in Connecticut which was bright red and my license plate is very distinctive, just as distinctive as Stana’s. Since I am single I was always worried about someone from work or friends from town would see me driving and wonder who that woman was that was driving my car. But all my worrying was for naught.
    I did get into an accident while driving it and all my documentation was in my male name. I was at a tollbooth in York Maine coming home from visiting my brother and sister-in-law when a car plowed into my car pushing it aside and continued on for about a quarter mile before stopping. The toll collector called the police and I drove down the where the other car was parked. The Maine state police officer arrived and asked for my driver license and registration which were all in my male name. I was petrified, I didn’t know what would happen, will he give me a ticket out of spite, or would he call me by my male name? Without batting an eyelash he asked me what name I preferred using and he used it and female pronouns when he addressed me. Whew!

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  4. A few years before I transitioned I was driving my old Volvo, dressed, quite late at night, when I got stopped by the Police because a bulb had failed I am under no delusions that I passed but they he was as good as gold, even when I had to show my drivers license.

    And in those days the photo still shoed me with a beard!

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  5. Sally StoneApril 07, 2016

    Stana,
    Your car comments strike a chord with me as I assume it does with many of us. It was more than likely, the car, that gave us our first taste of trans freedom. Well, at least we felt safe inside of it. I live in NJ so I have no worries about using the ladies room, since we have protective laws. I have no problem using the ladies room when I need to go, but for any girls that might be a little concerned, Starbucks usually has unisex bathrooms and Target and Kohls both have family restrooms that are quite appropriate for a concerned crossdresser. I have never been stopped by the police while dressed, but as often as I'm out, it is just a matter of time. Like you though, I follow the driving rules very closely when I'm out.

    Thanks so much for keeping this blog going. Your posts are always interesting and insightful.

    Hugs,

    Sally

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    1. FWIW, the Vermont welcome center on I-91 North just north of the Mass. state line has a unisex restroom. (Good to know since I am often in that part of New England.)

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  6. Thank you, fun post.... and you look great along with your cute car!
    i found your driving "tips" both funny and instructive, actually. They all make great sense, of course. i need to go out for a drive dressed soon :)
    sara

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