How many times has this happened to you? You are at a grocery store and you need a pair of eyeballs to read something for you. There’s a woman with long brown hair facing away from you at the end of the aisle. As you start walking toward her you say very distinctly “Excuse me… Miss?” The person you thought was a woman turns around and says very intimidatingly “SIR!” You shrink away in horror as the long-haired man with a big bushy biker beard starts frothing at the mouth.
I have had things like this happen to me on numerous occasions. At the time it happens I am humiliated beyond belief. Curling up in the fetal position sometimes sounds like just the thing to do. But looking back I gotta laugh at all those cases of (Miss Identification) BA-DUM-BUMP!
One of my favorite low-vision flubs of all time is the day I walked up to a mannequin and touched it. Suddenly this plastic statue comes to life and slaps me across the face and screams. I had a hard time explaining that one to her husband! No, he didn’t have long hair! 🙂
There’s a great episode of Sterotek’s High Contrast Podcast where we talk about confusing people’s genders among a ton of other amusing content. Check it out! Listen to High Contrast 13: Too Cool For School.
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