Conversation Starter

34 weeks

I heard on the radio the other day that complete strangers are apt to approach a heavily pregnant woman and touch her stomach, just like that, without paying mind to any notion of personal space. "How weird'" I thought. Followed by, "Thank God no one has done that to me yet." However, I have noticed that when you're very obviously pregnant people treat you differently. In the first instance, they automatically assume that you are a nice person: you get smiled at a lot, people seem to like to make eye contact, they hold doors open for you, help you with things to your car, engage in smalltalk, and I think: "Why can't society be like this all the time?". Secondly, it's an instant conversation starter, and the conversation always goes like this:

"When's it due?"
"Do you know what you're having?"
"Aaah"

Or sometimes, it goes like this:

We had a lady from the letting agent come round to inspect the flat, and just as I opened my mouth to say "Hello!" she said:
"You're having a girl!"
"Oh" I said. "Most people have told me I'm having a boy," I said.
"Oooh no" said she. "A boy is a small, neat bump. But you're carrying yours all around your hips and bum."
"Oh" I said, looking down. She then went about her business, and after a few moments it dawned on me: "Did she just call me fat?"