September 18, 2003
congratulations? ah. sigh.
I saw my friend Deb today at work. She came in and was talking about her daughter—18, pregnant, moved out of the house, has her parents paying the bills, and doesn't know who the father is (there's no way she came from this mom). I've heard the story before, but it continues to get better. How could it not?
I turned to wave to her, as I was teaching a class, and her eyes lit up and she had this big smile on her face. She mouthed the words, "Congratulations!"
I was intrigued. Had I won the lottery and not found out about it? I took a step toward her and she mouthed, "You're pregnant?" She made the little rounded belly sign. I just said, "Oh, no no no, I'm not." I tempered my surprise by reminding myself that just wondered the same thing about her. She said, "Sorry, you turned and I saw the shirt." I laughed and said, "Oh, I understand. It's funny!"
And it is funny. It's funny for a thousand reasons, but maybe it's getting less funny. I have put the shirt into the give-away pile, where it should have been a long time ago. It's ironic that the mistake should happen with this shirt. This is a shirt where I whine and complain to myself, "This outfit makes me look fat! I mean, I don't look fat, I look pregnant!"
Well, now I have proof that I'm not always wrong. For that, I'll take congratulations.
I shall add a picture of a few shirts that are similar. There's gathering just below the bust line and, on my shirt, another slight gather about five inches below that. So maybe I looked like a pregnant Michelin tire man. But here you go.
