I'm Not A Damsel In Distress

I must look pretty weak to most people. I had two experiences today that brought this to mind. Now, I'm only 5ft1 and about 110lbs. I know I'm petite but I'm stronger than I look. But I'm so used to doing things that when people react to it, I kind of look at them funny.

Example number one: Our dog has a wheat allergy. He cannot eat anything with wheat or grain in it. As a result, buying him dog food can be a little difficult when our normal pet store is out of what we buy him. Wheat and grain free dog food isn't the cheapest thing to buy and on top of that sometimes it'll say grain free but you look at the ingredients and it clearly has wheat listed. So we try very, very hard to just stick to his usual brand of dog food. This also proves to be a little difficult since it is a company that only delivers in the tri-state area. They are not a national brand so a lot of pet stores don't even carry it. There are two that we know of in our area.

The one we normally buy at was completely out until Tuesday. He couldn't wait until Tuesday. So the only other store is a good half hour drive from the house. Thankfully I was at work when I found out the usual store was out because the other place is on my way home.

Well, they didn't have the smaller bag of dog food, so I grabbed the 40lbs bag instead. I didn't grab a cart I just grabbed the bag and walked to the front of the store with it. I put it up on the counter and after I pay the lady asks me if I want a store clerk to help me out to my car. I said no thank you. Her response was, "Are you sure? You're such a tiny thing and that's a big bag of dog food."

I wasn't rude, I politely declined once again but I was thinking to myself, "Lady I just carried this across the store, I think I can make it to my damn car."

Example number two: I also knew we were out of soda. So I stop at the gas station on the way home and grab a 24 pack of soda. I'm standing in line and there is one guy checking out and a guy behind him. The guy directly in front of me tells me I can go ahead of him. He is literally only holding a 20oz soda in his hand. Nothing else. I again politely decline and tell him it's okay. I thanked him anyway.

His response, "You're welcome. I just saw how small you are and there you are holding a 24 pack of soda.."

I was still polite but said, "No worries, I just carried a 40lbs bag of dog food I can handle this." I laughed and his eyes got wide.

"Wow! Really?"

No I totally just made that up to fuck with you.

Again I know I'm petite but for crying out loud... a case of soda? Really?