(I’m 16, and a girl. However, I have short hair and wear baggy clothes that hide my figure. I get mistaken for a guy A LOT. I’m hanging out with two of my friends.)

Friend #1: “You have got to send me that picture of the guy in leather.”

Friend #2: “I still can’t believe she got you to take a picture with him!             ”

(Suddenly, two VERY pretty girls walk past us, giggling, and wave at me.)

Me: *has no idea what just happened*

Friend #2: “Oh. My. God. Those girls thought you were cute!”

Friend #1: “Well, she is a pretty convincing guy.”

Me: “No, wait, what?! I’m not even trying to look like a guy today!”

(This takes place at the bar I frequent after work. Although I don’t work that night, I come out to watch some football. A couple of my coworkers are there, when a girl walks in and greets me and my friends before sitting down next to me.)

Me: “So, I think I’ve drank here with you before. Where do you work?”

Girl: “…I work with you at [Restaurant]!”

(Turned out it was one of the new hires that had worked with us for about a month. I was so embarrassed to not recognize her in non-work attire!)

(It’s currently the beginning of spring. It’s just started to snow. It also hailed yesterday.)

Friend: “The cold never bothered me anyway.”

Me: “B****, it’s snowing in April. Shut up.”

(I’m an art student and often go to the zoo to do life studies of the animals. It happens regularly that people stop to watch me draw and ask questions. Especially children are usually very interested, so when I see a mother and her son of about eight years approach, I’m not surprised to see the boy running up to me in obvious excitement.)

Boy: “Oh, wow, that drawing is so good!”

Boy’s Mother: “Yes, it’s really nice, isn’t it?”

Me: “Thank you!”

Boy: “I wish I could draw like that. That would be soooo awesome.”

Me: “So you like to draw?”

Boy: “Yes! I love it; it’s so much fun. I can’t draw like you, though.”

Me: “Well, I started practicing my drawing much later than the age you are now, so if you draw a lot every day I’m sure that you will be able to draw at least this well when you’re my age.”

Boy: “Really?” *jumps up and down in excitement, his eyes shining*

Boy’s Mother: *to the boy* “NO! You don’t have any talent! No one in our family can draw at all! So you also CAN’T draw!”

(As I stare at her open-mouthed, she turns around and leaves with her son who now looks like he is trying hard not to cry.)

(I am twelve years old, and visiting my aunt and uncle. We go out to eat at a small restaurant. I am wearing a t-shirt that says the word ‘Disney,’ but each letter bears the pattern of a Disney character, such as Mickey, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, or Donald Duck. The word happens to sit right over my boobs. I am standing by the dessert display, when a boy younger than me notices my shirt.)

Boy: “All the letters are Disney characters!”

Me: “Yeah, pretty cool, huh?”

Boy: *rubbing his hand over the letter ‘D’* “This one is [Character]…” *moving onto ‘I’* “…this one is [Character]…” *and so on*

Me: “Uh…yeah…”

(He rubbed his hand over every letter as he named the characters, needless to say also rubbing my boobs in the process. Because of his age, I didn’t think he realized how inappropriate this was or how uncomfortable it made me, and I was too shy to say anything, so I just stood stock-still, eyes wide with shock, waiting for him to get to ‘Y’ and stop touching me. I glanced over at his mother; she gave me an apologetic look but did nothing. I think she, and my aunt and uncle, were more amused than anything. I, for one, was amazed that the mother said nothing, and very relieved when the boy finally finished naming the characters and stopped. I hope his mother at least had a word with him after the fact about personal space and female assets!)