Seen in the wild

[SamphiretheTervosaurReturneth]

OK. Now I am amused, confused, bemused

Went to a student house today, 2 tenants met me.

One was dressed like Holly Hobby. Pink ruffled pinafore dress, long hair tied up with a matching hair bow, ruffled ankle socks, Mary Jane shoes and a little gathered bag, also matching the dress, hanging from her wrist with a bow.

Cute and very retro I thought

Other tenant was pretty much Sporty Spice

Then apropos of nothing, I hadn't even asked their names, Holly Hobby says "I am non binary, you can call me They/Them"

I smiled and got on with the job "Is there anything you would like to report to the landlord?"

Holly Hobby stomped out of the house.

Sporty tells me, with an eye roll, I should have phrased that "Is there anything you/they/them would like to report to the landlord?"

I am afraid I laughed and said "but you were both here, talking directly to me, that's weird" and then got on with the job.

I am still trying to work it out. But maybe there is no sense in it?

there is no sense to it. carry on as you are ie normal!

😂 Oh the ridiculous self-centeredness! Nothing will ever be good enough for THEM!

Blimey. That is precious samph. How fragile is that!

That's just a plain demand for performed subservience.

Real every day life must be exhausting for they/them/idiots

"You" is perfectly correct, and to insist on inserting an additional "they" and an additional "them" into that sentence is ridiculous.

Was the eye-roll aimed at you for not knowing, or the pink princess for demanding?

Was the eye roll directed at you or at the flatmate who had stomped off?

Eye roll most definitely aimed at the flouncy rear end of Holly Hobby!

Sporty seemed reconciled, even a little bored, with it!

I too am curious about the nuance of the eye roll 😆

They wanted attention, you forgot to show appreciation for their weird get up and they didn't get the chance to correct your misuse of pronouns, so you have ruined their life!

Oh cross posts, haha

Put an 'adult human female' sticker somewhere they'd never find it. Student house....? The vacuum cleaner?

Had I but had such a sticker upon my person 😀

I will probably meet her again, this was an interim inspection. I'll be better prepared next time!

Oh, the temptation to say "Does they know how pronouns actually work?"

No wonder the Tories wanted grammar taught in schools.

Would I be right in guessing SS was female and HH was male?

(Sweeping generalisation alert, but a female non binary student would more usually be going for a unisex look. )

Also, what is it with the fancy dress? I know a transwoman who dresses like an Edwardian lady, even when camping.

Actually no, both female!

Which only made it worse!

Posted too soon...

As I drove away I contemplated that. Sporty surely would have been a more likely NB persona.

But no. Both definitely female.

Use thou and thee.

Genius idea.

Or tha...as in, "Hast tha owt ter report t' landlord duck?"

That’s interesting. Unexpected choice to identify as NB and then dress in an outfit which would be perceived to be at one end of a “binary”. But I guess a feature of youth trends / fashions is that they don’t remain static. Perhaps NB now means “I can wear whatever I like”.

Just a small step to “we can all wear whatever we like and we are all NB”. And once that point is reached across youth culture, all that energy, introspection and campaign activity can (fingers crossed) be redirected onto other issues - climate change, food security, AI, child poverty, human trafficking, fundraising for cancer research, the actions of global superpowers, whatever.

Admirably professional of you not to burst into laughter. I’m not sure I could have kept my reaction to just a smile.

I taught this age group for a couple of decades. I have form!

Thanks OP you certainly made me laugh