RANSVESTIA

Her fascinating narrative continued, interrupted only once by a woman who came in to pick up some cleaning. The old lady winked at me to wait and when we were alone again, she went on.

In the Balkan countryside she had left many years before, it was customary for young boys to follow their fathers into the mines almost as soon as they were able. Many times they met the same fate from cave-ins, explosions or deadly gas. With few exceptions, they had little choice as life was hard and other opportunities were rare.

Thus it was that the little boy-girl's proclivity for dresses was almost a blessing in disguise and in a short while, the few who knew of his sex paid little attention and the others who never knew simply never found out. He grew to "womanhood" and as his little-girl prettiness disappeared, he became a rather ordinary-looking woman. When his sisters married, he remained with his mother, tending the house and taking care of her into her old age.

Half an hour must have passed while the old woman told her story in a language still deeply flavored with her "old country" accent. By this time, I was completely at ease in her company and not the least bit startled when she suggested that I step into the back workroom and put on the skirt so that she could get a better fit. This I did.

I waited while she took care of another customer, hoping all the while that the new arrival would not require the use of a dressing room. She did not.

In a moment, the old lady entered and all sense of embarrassment was gone as she surveyed me and began tugging here and there on my belt-line, making marks and asking, “This is too tight?"

Feeling perfectly at home in her company, I was even able to tell her not to worry about the tightness for quite often I wore something be- neath the skirt that would make my waistline a bit more feminine. She laughed, "You just like all the rest! You already too skinny! But, you see, when I fix, this look nice for you."

Too soon, she was finished and reluctantly I slipped out of the skirt, donned my masculine clothes and was on my way. At the doorway, she called to me and suggested that when I return, I should bring what- ever I wear beneath the skirt to make sure that she had cut the skirt to a good fit.