I find I can’t put on make-up when men are around. Specifically lipstick. When I back out of the garage, I usually stop then to put on lipstick. That’s also the only time I see the man next door. Sometimes he’s out working on his lawn. If I see him, I wait ‘til the next stop sign.
I was 24 before people stopped thinking I was 17. I enjoy that mistake now. But at the time, being female and looking like a child, I was just begging to be taken advantage of in public. When I drove my Mazda (my little bluebird because she flitted all over town) around Austin, I took her to the mechanic several times before I realized he was taking a lot of money from me.
That was 8 years ago, and I’ve made up for being taken advantage of by making eye contact, speaking up, and speaking up quickly. You can take that to the bank. It has back-fired. I made one guy in a home improvement store really nervous, unless he was just always that way.
So there’s been a strong need to be taken seriously, probably because I haven’t been in the past. There’s just something about putting on make-up that I assume men think is frivilous, trivial. And in an effort to seem older and hold my own, I can’t put on lipstick with men around.
So maybe it’s ironic that I’m selling Mary Kay skin care now. I love it. I love the girly things and make-up has and still feels like playing dress-up. But if you’re a man, you’ll never see me putting it on!
Although Brad is a man, he doesn’t count. He can watch.
