Time Out For Women part 2

So here is the lovely account of Cara and I dressing in such lovely outfits! I woke up the next morning and was having 2nd thoughts about this plan. Really? Why would I do this? Why would I attract attention to myself like this? But then I thought- I spent $13.00 on her outfit! She IS going to wear it! She wont were it if I don't wear hers! RRRR! And, she will never let me hear the end of it if I back out now. RRRR! So I got all ready. I looked H.O.T!!! Seriously? Why would I do that to myself? Why?

So we go. We get out of the car and I am thinking- if we walk in together, everyone will know this is a joke, right? I had to get something out of the back of the car. They totally left me. I had to walk in by myself. Do you know how long of a walk that was. ALL BY MYSELF? I could see people looking at me like- whats up with the crazy lunatic girl? Nice outfit! L.O.N.G walk! After what seemed like hours I finally made it into the building. I stopped at the bathroom before entering the hall. I did find Cara so we were able to walk in together. Yes, stares, pointing and snickering all the way to our seats.

Before we went in we gave each other a pep talk-
We are strong.
We are confident.
This is fun!
Also the rule was that we couldn't say one word about it to anyone. We just had to act normal like we dressed like that all the time.

Ya, not so much.

I decided to do an experiment with it. I decided to really watch and see how people responded to us. This is what I found-
When you are "different" people don't make eye contact with you. They look away or they simply wont look at you. They cover their mouths so you wont know they are talking about you. Some even outright laugh at you. People are not friendly to you. They give you a wide berth. Sometimes they even are rude. We went to Jimmy Johns sandwich shop for lunch which by the way is super delicious! I was the last of the 4 in our group to order. The cashier was really nice to everyone but when I got up there she was suddenly very cool to me. Not rude but there was a definite difference in the way she treated me than the way she had treated the others in the group. Maybe I was just being over sensitive, maybe not.
At the conference I saw people that I knew. Their reactions were interesting. They came and talked to us but not one asked about our clothes. Not one. They definitely noticed but no comments. So politeness was a response also. Looking back, I loved the response of one friend, Linda Covey. I truly don't think she even noticed what Cara and I were wearing. Her focus was on our faces. I tried drawing attention to my clothes, I kept adjusting my sweater, I pointed out Cara's earrings, I pulled up my pants a few times, I took steps back so she would have a better view of my outfit and she never looked. If she noticed I couldn't tell. It was a good feeling to realize she was interested in me, not what I was wearing. She looked in our faces and listened to what we were saying.

I learned a lot from this experience. I wondered at how I treat people who are different than myself. I realized that I have been one of those people that makes comments with my mouth hidden behind my hand. (on Friday we had gone to Costco and there was a group of polygamists there. We did the same thing people were doing to us) I learned that some people just aren't very nice. I learned that I have more confidence in myself that I thought because you know what? Even though it was hard to be in that room or out in public dressed like that with all those people staring, by the end, I didn't really care about that. If people thought I was crazy, who cares? I learned that I will be better at making people who are different than me feel comfortable when I am around them. I will be making eye contact and conversation with them. I will be interested in them.

It was an interesting experience. One that I would not like to repeat anytime soon but interesting none the less.
Highlights of this experience-
 I am pretty sure I haven't laughed that hard about anything for a really long time. Cara and I were rolling most of the day! Everytime we looked at each other. She totally rocks!
Lolly wanted to go meet Hillary Weeks so I went with her. She just looked me up and down and shook my hand. Lolly couldn't stand it so she told Hillary why I was dressed like that. She laughed and said it was the best thing she had seen at this conference. She totally wanted a picture but didn't have her camera. She also said the sweater was cute and that I should wear it again.

And baby- I couldn't get those pants off fast enough!