Granted smarter retailers aren’t going to make a big deal out of a crossdressed customer—after a sale is a sale—but I had a couple experiences yesterday that went above and beyond simple “commercial courtesy.”

Among others, I needed to pick up a leather jacket I had taken in by the good folks at Fog City Leather (who didn’t bat an eye at my differing gender from one visit to another), which gave me a chance to check out a plus-size boutique, Go Figure, which one of the women at my nail salon recommended. Normally, I would’ve preferred to go en femme, but with this damn cold I just didn’t have the energy to get dressed.

I was upfront about the fact that I was looking for stuff for me. The older saleswoman said, “I don’t mean to pry but”—“Ask away,” I replied. I ended up showing them my photos and having a nice Trans 101 discussion with the two saleswomen working that day, who seemed genuinely interested in learning more about crossdressers and trans issues. At the end of it, one of the saleswomen showed me their album of customer photos and said if I wanted to give them a photo of me wearing their clothes I’d be able to get a discount on my next purchase. Very sweet of them.