By Elizabeth Piggott
May 28th 1997
My planning for the wonderful Esprit '97 in Port Angeles, Washington began some time very shortly after Esprit '96 when several of my email pals told me what a marvelous time they had had there. At the time I was a recent bloomer and did not have the public confidence to do much "Daytime Living" and so I put it on the agender (sp. make that "agenda") for next year.
I soon got a reply from Mandi who forwarded my information on to Anna Marie Haas, Chairperson of Esprit '97. It turned out that she would not only be able to pick me and my luggage up at the airport but that she was looking for a room mate for the week! The start of the Serendipities! I had never met Anna before and so we had a good long phone conversation to help us make our plans and get to know each other. We hit it off well and decided that sharing a room would be a great idea. She did caution that she wouldn't have much space in her car because she was packing a lot of official Esprit support equipment and a lot of clothes. I told her that I had planned on packing two steamer trunks, 6 hat boxes, a makeup case and a small feather boa but that in the interest of sisterly cooperation that I would pare it down to the absolute minimum. One big folding suitcase and an ample carry-on bag later I was ready to hit the road. This was to be my first time traveling by plane "en Femme". I had driven to visit friends out of state before but had never tried air travel. I knew that I would have to show picture ID and also knew that most gals have absolutely no problem showing an ID whose picture does not do them full justice and looks like it shows a boy. The appointed day arrived and I headed for the Boise International Airport and destiny. I had only packed two bags but their combined weight was roughly equal to the mass of most sumo wrestlers so I had vowed to drop them with the first charming skycap I could find. I dropped my bags, well I wasn't really carrying them so I just stopped dragging them on the ground, in front of the sky cap station and waited my turn. The nice young man asked for my ticket and destination and asked me if I had any explosive devices, sources of radiation or terrorist resistance cells in my luggage. I assured him I was danger free and he then asked for a photo ID. I handed him my drivers license complete with boy picture and waited. He looked at my license and then he looked up at me. He looked again at the license with the photo of some ordinary looking guy and then up at the perky and charming Mall Mom here in front of him while wearing a slightly perplexed look. I smiled as sweetly as possible and admitted, "I've lost a lot of weight since that picture was taken." He sputteringly admitted that I had indeed and stamped my ticket with a pleasant, "Have a nice day, Ma'am." People always tend to react well when you tell them the truth and I got the impression that I may have made his day. I got on the plane and enjoyed a nice sunny flight to Seattle. The landing was a great opportunity to get a view of downtown and the Space Needle and all the sights. I knew that I would have a small bit of a wait at the airport before I met up with Anna at the curb so I gathered my bags and settled down where I would have a clear view of our appointed meeting place. I started to read my book and had just gotten to the part of the "Celestine Prophecies" where they talked about the power of coincidence and how events start to flow well when things are going in the right direction. I glanced up and realized that my watch was set 10 minutes off and that our meeting time was exactly here, I got up and headed for the door just as Anna pulled up. Coincidence? Nah, there's no such thing, just the flow of healthy events. I knew this charming gal had to be Anna because the entire back of her car was full of hanging clothes and cardboard cartons. We managed to wedge my bulging bags in the back seat and still had plenty of room to breath if we took turns. Our drive up the Olympic Peninsula to Port Angeles and the entire Esprit experience absolutely fail all attempts at description. We all bonded as sisters and shared experiences, sought and found common ground and expanded each others lives. We enjoyed the hospitality of the People of Port Angeles and discovered that the Red Lion Hotel has a really great pastry chef!!! "We came, we saw, we had a swell time!" As with all swell times this one had to end. After a morning of tearful good-byes to firm and newfound friends and a frantic time of trying to jam all of our stuff back into our bags we checked out of the hotel and left Port Angeles. I was still at Anna's mercy so I was real glad that she offered to give me a ride back to Seattle and drop me at a hotel where I could then catch a shuttle to the airport the next day. We had plenty of time and no real desire to end our Esprit time so we decided to take the ferry back to Seattle and have dinner at Anna's favorite restaurant before we split up. She had chosen a place called "Thumpers" which had absolutely fabulous food, live piano entertainment and a waiter who was very responsive to my repeated teasing. We enjoyed our dinner immensely and finally gave in to exhaustion and Anna dropped me off at my hotel. The next day I had a couple of hours before I needed to get to the airport so I used the time as any sensible gal would. I went to the mall! I "did" the Bon Marche and found the denim skirt of my dreams on sale and then headed for the Holy Grail of shoppers in the northwest, Nordstroms. Nordstroms is a wonderful place where you can expect wonderful service and fabulous merchandise. You can also expect to see expensive merchandise. I like to tell people that, "I Love to shop at Nordstroms, I don't buy anything but I Love to shop there." I did break my rule though and bought a gift to take home. I asked about wrapping and was pointed to the customer service counter upstairs. The first woman I met at the desk called out to her co-worker, "This Guy needs his purchase wrapped." Now I never fool myself into thinking that I appear unambiguously as a woman but I do know that my appearance and demeanor make it clear that I expect to be treated like a lady. The second customer service lady was an absolute charmer who ended up running down to the stationary department to get just the right wrapping paper and ribbon to show off the somewhat odd sized potpourri basket I had bought. She made up for the other gals "indifference" by being very helpful and repeatedly using the pronouns and forms of address that make a "T"gal feel good all over. I thanked her very much for her help and made my way back to the hotel to catch the airport shuttle. By now I was real pro at en Femme airport etiquette so I knew to put my brand new Esprit photo ID with my girl picture next to my official drivers license when I went to check my bags at the airport. The clerk never even batted an eye and sent my bags off to give some handler his workout for the day. I made my way to the security checkpoint and plopped my purse and obligatory Nordstroms shopping bag on the Xray belt. I stepped through the metal detector and heard the dreaded beep. I stepped back and went through again but still made the goofy thing beep. The security guy called out for a female search and I stepped out of line. A young man headed my way and immediately stopped, apologized and went over to get the female search lady. At least these folks knew how to be polite! She gently wanded me up one side and down the other and found that her detector beeped weakly as she passed it over my slimmed midriff. She leaned over and asked if I, "had anything on underneath." I fessed up in a conspiratorial whisper that I had stays on and she got a giggle out of that. While we gals were bonding at the side the Xray guy had asked if he could look in my bulging purse. He had managed to make his way through the gum packages, receipts and 12 shades of lipstick safely and handed my purse back with a cheerful, "Everything looks fine, thanks Buddy." I met his eye and was greeted by the sight of an embarrassed uniformed man blushing quickly. He amended an, "Er, uh, Ma'am" to his comments but I cut him short by saying, "Hon, you can call me whatever you like as long as you are polite and respectful." His grin and obvious relief pleased me to no end. After an uneventful flight back to Boise Idaho and a much needed nights sleep I reflected on the success of my trip, the new people I had met and the strangers that I had educated along the way. I knew that the next sister who passed their way would have an easier time in the same way that my trip had been made easier by the gals who had gone before me. Our time is here sisters, we need to let people know that we are here and go on ahead and ease our way into our place in society. My nature and style keeps me from squareing my shoulders and demanding my rights but I really saw that I can get all I need by just keeping a smile on my face and being genuine and honest with the people whose paths I cross.
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