Update
As I have gotten farther along, I have noticed that there is this trepidation of pregnant women. I have three examples:
1. A few mornings ago, I wasnt feeling good. So I had gotten some water, and was relaxing on the couch. Somehow, I lost my glass of water. I said to my dad, "I seem to have lost my water. Can you get me another glass?" He only caught the first part, and freaked out. He thought I meant my water had broken.
2. I had a breastfeeding class to attend in the hospital. I knew it was on the 5th floor, but I wasnt sure where. The front lobby person was no help, so I took the elevator to the 5th floor, and I was going to ask around. When I got out of the elevator, I went to the directory, and starting looking for something that might point me in the right direction. Suddenly, a nurse runs up to me and (in a worried sort of tone) asks, "Are you having a baby?" I shot back quickly,"Not currently." She laughed and ended up helping me find the class.
3. We were in Lubbock yesterday, and from driving for a while, I had to use the restroom. I pulled into a gas station, and walked in. I asked the woman if they had a restroom. She looked at belly with big eyes and asked "Why?" I told her I had to use the bathroom, and she sighed with relief and told me where it was. She acted like I was going to use her bathroom to have my baby!
I blame the media for this nervousness. There seem to be so many stories of women having babies in their car and whatnot that people must think women do that all the time!
We were about to leave Lubbock, so we needed to get gas before we left. There was a full service station, and Nick said we should go there. I said I had never used a full service station before, so that meant we just "had" to use it.
It was an strange experience for me (which Nick thinks is really strange). In Albuquerque, there are NO full service stations. About 5 years ago, there used to be one, but it shut down. I only know this because my great aunt used to go there because she cant lift the nozzle to pump her own gas, so she used to go there. Nick says that full services stations are still pretty common in Little Rock (maybe every one in four stations offers full service).
I dont know why Little Rock has so many and Albuquerque has so few, but I have a theory. (Lets just hope I dont piss anyone off)
Chivalry in Hispanic culture seems to be a bit different then in the South. Hispanic women, especially now, are very independent. The opening of a door and whatnot might be more often then not associated with weakness then respect. So, asking a man to pump your gas while you just sit in the car isnt appealing here, where in the South, the respect part of chivalry is more understood and agreed upon.
And for the longest time I associated myself with the Hispanic culture's view just from living in New Mexico. Up until rather recently, I had a hard time letting a guy buy me dinner, let alone opening the car door or other such niceties. If I knew him pretty good, I would just put the money for my dinner somewhere he would find it and think he had lost it (like in the glovebox or next to his keys in the house). If I didnt know him that well, I would figure out some way of paying him back. I really had a problem with it.
I would like to blame this problem of my dad and his friends. Growing up with a father only, I heard many a coversation about the annoying things women do. One I heard alot was how some women will go on a date with you for a free meal. I didnt want to be one of those women, so I overcompensate. Now that I have began to understand the respect part of it, I can handle the situation better. But I will never be one of those women who gets mad because I have to pay for a meal.
There was one other topic I wanted to touch on, but its gone to all the other places forgotten thoughts go, never to return again. . . .*sigh*