Unfiltered Reality

This week has been rough, as I’d been forced to work a lot of late nights to meet my customer’s deadline. I’d been missing Troy, so I decided to pick him up early and take him to Spirit Halloween as a treat. We’d been staking out the place for weeks, waiting for it to finally open. He loves perusing the costumes and decorations, trying on things and getting ideas for our yard.

When we walked in, I noticed a very tall blonde woman working the register. I didn’t think too much of it, as I was quickly distracted by Troy pressing the button on one of the animatronic decorations by the front door. But later, when we were trying on Halloween masks, the cashier came back to our area to see if we needed any help. I noticed that “she” was really a “he” dressed up like a woman. Joei, as we learned her name was, was a transgender male. I had a polite conversation with her about scouting out potential costumes to then run by my son’s mother for approval. And then Troy looked up and really saw Joei for the first time.

Troy: “Are you wearing a costume?”
Joei: “No, this is just who I am.”
Troy: “Are you a boy?”
Joei: “Parts of me are.”
Troy: “Then, why are you dressed like that?”
Joei: “Well, I used to be a boy, but now I’m a girl. Just like I used to be a Marine, and I used to work in the oil fields, but now I work here.”
Troy: “Oh.”
Me: “What did you do in the Marines?”
Joei [thankful for the change in subject]: “I was in recon.”
Me: “Ha, that’s why you asked if we were doing recon on a Halloween costume!”
Joei [laughing]: “Exactly! Well, you let me know if you need anything. And I think that bloody pig head might be perfect for you. What do you think?”
Troy: “Maybe. I do like that his mouth moves.”
Joei: “Yeah, we don’t really get a lot of pigs around here with tusks like that.”
Troy: “Really?”
Joei: “Anyway, take your time.”
Me: “Thanks, Joei.”