Kindness of Strangers

Though I feel I am pretty obviously pregnant these days, and don't do a lot to disguise it, there has still been a complete lack of acknowledgement from the general population to my pregnancy. Heck, I am not sure what I could do to disguise it at this point, short of donning a Barney the Purple Dinosaur costume for the next 4 months, which might be equally conspicuous. Not that I expect it to be the topic of conversation at grocery stores, malls, and movie theaters, but I see them looking. Up until yesterday, I had only one unsolicited pregnancy comment, and I have since convinced myself that I might as well have been wearing an "I'm Knocked Up" t-shirt that day, so the validity of that exchange is under scrutiny.

Until yesterday, when I had the following exchange with a kind stranger in my office elevator:

(elevator doors close)

S: Boy or girl?

M: (looks around, to make sure there is no one else in this 4x6 space whose gender might be up for debate, though there is no one else in the elevator) Me? Oh, it's a GIRL!

S: Congratulations. Your first?

M: Yes it is. (now on to more important things, because this is exactly the conversation the guy wants to have in the 15 second ride in a confined space with a stranger) You know, you are only the second person to say anything to me about it without me bringing it up first!

S: Really? Seems pretty obvious.

M: I know, RIGHT?

S: And I am pretty careful to not say anything if I think the person might just be fat.

M: God bless you.