North Carolina on my Mind …

It started with a tickle, no sir not a trickle, from a pal in the USA.

She sent me this cartoon via Facebook asking what I though of the North Carolina situation.

At first I thought of gun-violence. – That wasn’t it.

Then I wondered if there’d been a natural catastrophe. Nope, not that either.

Then I spotted the doors. Funny? Ha Ha?

See this cartoon, Jimmy?

Imagine, we need multiple toilets in Scotland so kilt-wearing people use the correct restroom. Then, maybe through over indulgence in our national drink, we didn’t sign the doors right

Of course this isn’t toilet a problem for fearsome kilt wearers (start at 5:17 on the video). We go in the door marked for men. Women, who look delightful in kilts of all lengths use the doors marked for them. The significance is for other people, most notably in the USA, judging by my friend’s tease: Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia and others spring to mind.

There’s a poll at the bottom of this post — what do you think?

Cruel is as cruel does

I first came across a Transgender situation in the mid-80’s. The person concerned was a former military officer well over six feet tall and built like a block of granite. Her femininity and gentleness was remarkable; also some of her tales of the military. I don’t know her background, but learned she’d had gender re-assignment surgery.

Leaving the military she joined a public sector organisation as a seniorish manager. The trouble started when she transitioned into feminine clothes and changed her name. The men would no longer accept her in the mens-room and the women didn’t want her in their loos (UK word for toilets) either. They ended up building a TransGender convenience. Where people didn’t know, problems weren’t apparent. At work she became embittered and mental illness followed (maybe something North Carolina want to think about if they’re enforcing matters in their public buildings).

Don’t ask don’t tell

A couple of years back I attended an event in Seattle. My kilt brought a lot of fun and interesting conversations. No men ran screaming from a restroom although I confess I didn’t give it a try with the women’s equivalent.

People talk

Week before last I was in London at a professional meeting. Over coffee I talked with two women, senior people in their professional world. I’d reached over for some coffee and came partially into a conversation about a man who’d told a woman her underwear didn’t match her outfit, the conversation went something like this:

me: … didn’t match her underwear?

woman 1: that’s right, right in front of me … she blushed

woman 2: bit cruel

They didn’t seem outraged.

me: Was he using some sort of spy contraption? You know, like the mirrors on a stick the police use to look for bombs.

They looked at me, amused.

woman 1: nooo, silly, she’d got her skirt caught in her knickers and then she walked out of the loo.

woman 2: have you ever got your kilt caught in your knickers?

me: no, never

Woman 2: ahh there’s nothing worn under your kilt?

At my age there might be. Talk about feeding a punch line. If you get in touch I’ll share a series of answers. However it’s only worth reporting the conversation went down hill in PC terms … and we laughed a lot.

TransGender bender

Politicians will make all sorts of points and pass all sorts of laws and ordnances. The ottom line is: are the TransGender people victims or perps? By all accounts TGs tend not to be dangerous. I’m surprised how people who claim to be upright citizens can be so insensitive (watch the video).

For me, in any of the outraged States, I’d be more worried about the homicide rate than TransGender people. Yet TGs face serious risks, not least from their own government.

In my society, I wish we’d truly include people of all sexualities and needs. TGs deserve every bit as much respect and acceptance. This year on the Voice TV show a woman represented TransGender folk with elegance and capability. Now, there’s an example of human worth.

© Mac Logan

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