It's not your business!

I started using henna on my hair several months ago.  At the time, I believed it was temporary.  I wouldn't have used it if I knew it was permanent.  I got a nice deep auburn. 

However, I had to keep maintaining the treatments, which involved me sitting around for hours on end, on my day off, my head full of green glop. 

I also noticed all the other brunette "rebels" who had colored their hair auburn.  I was starting to feel like a lemming.  I've always sworn I wouldn't be the woman who vainly colored her hair for fashion, to match the crowd, to assimilate, and to cover oh horror the gray. 

Yet I was. 

I decided to stop.  It's growing out, pretty quickly.  I will have brown/gray hair with auburn ends, for a few years, assuming we don't get raptured first (assuming I don't cut it, either). 

I'm sure some people will be disappointed, because "Oh, it looked so cute".  Hey, I have limited energy.  I certainly don't want to spend it on my hair.  Half the time, when I'm depressed, I'm doing great just to wash it. 

I also had another encounter the other day.  I approached the van (it's always the big vans and never the contracted cab drivers) and she squinted at me.  "You his wife?" 

"Yes" I replied.  "22 years.  I got new glasses, maybe that's what had you confused." 

"Oh!" She replied accusingly.  "You colored your hair!  You grew your hair!  You gained weight... why did you gain..."

"Stop!" I put up my hand.  "Don't make me call in on you like I did the other driver." 

"But you gained weight..." she whined. 

How is that her business?  Any driver's business?  She's not buying the gas, and this woman was not slim, either. 

"I had a driver" I began warningly "Who asked me a lot of very rude and intrusive questions about my weight."  I adopted a mocking, derisive tone.  "Why'd you get fat?  You're so fat!  Oh, you look terrible!"   I resumed my normal tone.  "I kept asking her to stop, and she didn't.  It was very rude and inappropriate so I called in (a complaint) on her.  Don't make me do that to you."

"But you look so different"  she whined. 

"It's not your business why I gained the weight." I replied.  "But I'll tell you: I have all kinds of crazy on board.  My medication makes me gain weight.  But if you mention it again in front of me or my husband I will call in a report.  Ron gets very upset.."  I let her assume I meant, Ron gets upset at the driver, when in actuality I get the tirade (even though I have maintained my weight for over a year while losing one and a half clothing sizes). 

She shut up, got Ron loaded, and we left. 

Later on, the GPS told her to turn left.  It's a lot faster if the driver goes straight.  Ron suggested she go straight but she turned - I think to spite me. 

A few hours later, Ron mentioned the incident to another driver, who wondered why the driver wouldn't listen to Ron's directions.  I briefly (stupid!) mentioned the weight incident, to the horror of our current driver. 

"She said what?"

Ron got pretty upset and has been mentioning it to me "If you weren't fat they wouldn't bother you."

Yes, they would.  When I lost weight I had to endure long, ignorant, interrogations on how I had lost the weight.  One driver thought she just had to avoid "white" foods (white rice, bread, etc) to adhere to a low carb lifestyle.  Other times I would explain the details of low carb dieting for half an hour and they still didn't understand.  It was very tiring. 

Someone suggested I just say I have been "working out more", which, if I do lose weight, I'll say. 

They want to interrogate me when I lose weight.  To see how I did it and maybe they can emulate. 

They want to interrogate me when I gain weight; I suppose, to see how I did it and maybe avoid it. 

Neither is their right or business to ask.  

It's common sense, people.  Calories in, calories, out. 

Unless you take metabolism-screwing mood stabilizers and antipsychotics.