Okay, that was weird.

[rivka]

I was standing at the bus stop this morning, wearing a full-length overcoat buttoned up to mid-chest.

A middle-aged guy walked by and we made brief eye contact, so we nodded at each other. Then he stopped, waved at my midsection, and asked, "Girl?"

I was stunned.

"Yes," I said, "but how on earth could you tell?"

He grinned at me. "I always know. I guessed every one of my children." He wished me a happy holidays, and then went on his way.

Seriously: I know that people develop all kinds of theories based on how you're carrying, or whatever, but I was wearing a figure-obscuring wool coat. You can see that there is a bump, but not the shape of the bump. So how the hell?

Comments

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Talent.

Either that, or chance.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Well, it *was* a 50-50 chance :).

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Point 1: 50% chance of being right. Point 2: Greater than average chance of remembering successes than remembering failures. Point 3: A bit of self-delusion.

Not hard, if you work at it.

B

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Maybe he was guessing *your* sex. I mean, he didn't specify that he was talking about a baby. ;-)

-J

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

See, that was my first thought, but I discarded it. *grin*

[ladyotterfae.livejournal.com]

while there's always the chance possibility, don't discount that maybe he really does know. it's an energy reading thing, for those of us who believe that's possible.

and sometimes, you can just tell.

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

Mine, too, and I feel much less embarrassed now thanks to you both. :-)

[tangleofthorns.livejournal.com]

Then he stopped, waved at my midsection, and asked, "Girl?"

Happens to me *all* the time.

Smell?

[zarq.livejournal.com]

Pheromones. Or Chance. Take your pick. :-D

[rivka.livejournal.com]

The middle of my body is, in fact, rather girly. So I suppose it's a possibility.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

You beat me to it. : )

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Perhaps he's a Master of Arcane Arts. Or perhaps his grandmother was a gypsy who gave him The Gift. Or maybe God talks to him...

Or maybe he just made a good guess.

[erikted.livejournal.com]

Couldn't tell ya.

When I was a kid, I had a 100% success rate in predicting pregnancy outcomes (including spontaneous abortion) and electoral outcomes. As soon as I got old enough (~13) to "know" something about the processes involved, I lost the knack. But I remember the feeling of gut-knowing, always with absolute certainty.

So I don't officially "believe" in any of "that sort of thing", I'm prepared to entertain possibilities.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

*Every single* person who guessed for me, guessed boy. Isn't that weird? Complete strangers, even --- homeless guys, passersby. All said "boy". I don't get it.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Neat. I suppose it could be like chicken sexing.

[edschweppe.livejournal.com]

Maybe, like Anne McCaffrey's Pernese dolphins, he's got built-in sonar that's good enough to do long-range ultrasounds.

Either that, or he found a pair of those back-of-the-comic-book X-ray glasses that actually work!

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Tangental anecdote:

My aunt doesn't get hiccups. Well, she'll get one, but never two. I had hiccups once around her (I get 'em to the point where they hurt, and it's very hard for me to stop them), and she told me to make them stop. I asked her how; she said something like "Well, I just make them stop." So I tried it - and it worked. Not only that, but it worked every time for a couple of months.

But then, after a couple of months of succesfully stopping hiccups, I got a case of them and thought "Wait... how am I stopping them? I can't just stop hiccuping by thinking about it!" And then, of course, I couldn't do it anymore.

Do Not Think About The Pink Elephant. ;)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

The one time I was ever able to stop hiccups by myself was when I was recovering from back surgery. I hiccuped, and it hurt amazingly, so much so that I couldn't imagine how I was going to tolerate another one.

So I stopped.

Only time it's ever happened. I guess that, for me, the stakes need to be really, really high.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

That's a fascinating article.

It's also full of entertaining phrases. "Is there really anything unusual about the chicken sexer?" "Granted, it takes people a lot of time and effort to learn to identify birds by jizz or reliably sex chicks." "If I went for more than four days without chick sexing work I started to have 'withdrawal symptoms'. Several of my students have expressed the same feeling when they have not sexed chickens for a week or so."

I bet it was fun to write.

[fourgates.livejournal.com]

I think we carry our life's stories on our faces, though few people can read them. It wouldn't surprise me if this guy could tell that it's a girl because you know and show it. I'd be curious to know if he guessed his children's (how many?) sex before or after his wife knew.

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

sometimes I just get a 'feel' or 'vibe' that tells me - not sure how I know.