Hey lady, I bet you wouldn't tell a guy he was tiny

I know I have written about boobs and bras and bra fittings before, but indulge me again, please, while I vent for a minute.

As many (if not most or all) of you know, I am petite -- as in short and thin and not particularly buxom (i.e., a lifetime member of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee). And although there are many worse things than being petite, I am very self conscious about it, particularly when buying clothes and bras. And I particularly hate it when people, especially ones who should know better, make a point of how "tiny" I am. (Though, I admit, it beats being told "you could stand to lose a few pounds" or "you'd be cute if you lost some weight," both of which I heard many times in my late teens and twenties.)

That is why I dislike bra shopping -- and generally avoid bra fitters. But I was in need of a new strapless bra. So I took myself off to a department store, confident I would find something without having to resort to a specialty shop or a bra fitter.

HA!

Seriously, folks, we need to do a better job teaching Math in this country. I must have tried on half a dozen (maybe more) bras all labeled 32B -- all of which were different sizes. WTF bra makers? While I know cup sizes vary wildly, thirty-two inches should be thirty-two inches. Frustrated, I left the department store without making a purchase. But then I made the stupid mistake of going into a high-end lingerie shop.

No sooner had I walked through the door and said I needed a strapless bra than the saleswoman had ushered me into the back room and gotten me to remove my top -- only to exclaim "You're so tiny!" Which she then repeated several more times, for emphasis, shaking her head.

For those of you who think that's cute or funny, imagine a guy going to get underwear and having the salesperson size him up and exclaim "You're so tiny!" Or a woman being told "You're so fat!" or "Your breasts are so huge!" It would never happen. But I am constantly subjected to this barrage -- not just by salespeople but by women I meet and know. And I'm sick of it.

(For the record, I used to weigh 30 pounds more. Then I got Lyme disease. Then my father dropped dead. Then the guy I trusted to manage my money started drunk dialing me. (Turns out he was an alcoholic and his wife was leaving him.) So I lost a few pounds. After years of yo-yo dieting, it was kind of fun to be skinny, but shopping in the kids department for your clothes and having women resent you just because your skinny gets old fast.)