I was a teenage kickboxer

Okay, so last week in the office I was looking for paper clips, but none were to be found. Nowhere! Not in my desk, not in our supply cabinet, not in the reference desk. We're only supposed to go to the main supply desk on certain days and that day was not the certain day. I decided I would hit up my colleagues.

I hit gold with the first one I asked but the funny thing was that the paperclips were in a mouthguard case. What did I do? I started asking questions. Now, you have to be know what she is like. She's Southern. You know how those Southern Women Movies always have the Sassy One? She is the Sassy One. So, when I saw the mouthguard case, I got curious.

Yankee Librarian: Mouthguard? Were you boxing?
Sassy Southern Librarian: No.... Wow, now I remember why I bought those.
YL: For boxing?
SSL: No.
YL: Are you sure?
SSL: Yes
YL: In my mind, you were boxing.

When I gave them back to her the conversation continued.

SSL: Yeah, I remember why I had to get these.
YL: Were you grinding your teeth in your sleep?
SSL: No.
YL: Kickboxing?
SSL: No.
YL: Football?
SSL: No.
YL: Wrestling?
SSL: *sigh* Yes, I was wrestling, let's leave it at that.

I think it was kickboxing. Totally.

Okay, so I was back up north a few weeks ago. It was nice. I could walk to where I wanted without having a heat stroke. It was cool at night. And, more importantly, no pressure to be polite. Now, I am not saying that people up north are all mean and nasty, but they don't expect everyone to stop and talk about their mamas and their daddies in the middle of the damn sidewalk. But the one thing that struck me as odd? No one held the door open for me.

See, I never liked it when people held doors open for me. I'm not an invalid, I can open a damn door. When I was an undergrad and in that college-girl-man-hating phase, I would get all offended when a guy held the door open for me. I was a Woman and I could open my own door, thank you very much. But sometimes I would hold doors for other people, because it was nice. If I got to the door first, I would hold it open for the person I was with, etc. Did I hold it open for strangers? Sometimes, if I was feeling generous or if they had a baby or were old or were pregnant or whatever. (Although once I held the door for a guy, and he wouldn't walk through because I was holding the door for a man. I finally said, "I'm going to stand here until one of us goes through this door, and it isn't going to be me." He walked through while he put his hand above my head on the door, like he was holding it for me.)

But then I moved to a place were every man in town holds the door open for every woman. I wasn't sure how to handle it at first, but I began to get used to it and almost expect. Sometimes it would be weird, like the time when I was walking to the library, about to open the door, when I heard someone run up behind me... It was a male student who ran up behind me just to open the door for me. I was surprised and to be honest a bit offended, because, you know, I'm female, not an invalid.

But I was up north, and I walked into a store and a guy was in front of me and he didn't hold the door, in fact, I barely existed in his world. At first, it seemed strange, and then I smiled, because I realized I had missed this.