John Y.’s Musings from the Middle: The McDonalds’ Menu

You know how when you are talking to someone who is undergoing hormone replacement treatment in preparation for gender reassignment surgery it can sometimes be awkward?

You know, how you try to make the other person feel like you have no idea they are about to change from a man to a woman or vice-versa and try to bring up banal topics like basketball or the weather?

Of course you do.

And it is confusing.

Sometimes –given how far along the person is in the process–it can be confusing about which “brand” (so to speak) they are leaving and which one they are becoming.

I just went through McDonalds drive-thru a few minutes ago and was struck with that same awkward feeling I have when around people getting sex changes.

The drive-thru menu was very feminine, so to speak, splattered with colorful pictures of apples, oatmeal, fruit and all manner of healthy foods and fancy girly coffee drinks.

This used to be a fry and burger joint with hot black coffee that would burn your skin off—a fast food joint with more of a guy’s personality. But I went through the drive thru anyway.

As I paid I looked the person working the register in the eye as if to say, “I have no idea what you are going through and it is none of my business. I do not judge. I’ve known people who have gone through transformations like this and they are good people and I wish you the best. Please just give me my Big Mac and fries while I still recognize this place so I can leave because I have nothing to add about basketball or the weather.”

I think the person at the register understood what I was communicating and appreciated the subliminal gesture. It was the right way to handle an otherwise awkward situation.