How the Argument Was Won

Sometimes I see people on the trams give me the once over--look me up and down and by the time their eyes have made it back up to my head, their mouths are pursed and their faces grim. It is entirely possible that instead of this being an indication of their disapproval of my outfit, that this is their typical Czech reserved "street face," devoid of all emotion.

Today, however, I saw a young woman in the tram give me the once over--start at the bottom and rise up to my face where our eyes met and her upper lip curled. This action was subtle, it would hardly have been noticeable to a bystander not in the direct line of fire. But because the lip curling action was directed at me, or at least was a direct result of my clothing choice for today, I was very aware of it. I prefer to think of it as a lip curl of jealousy--jealous that my legs looked so shapely and muscular and toned in my legwarmers--but, being somewhat realistic most of the time, I realize that it was done in disapproval for my legwarmers.

Had this exhibition of disapproval occurred anywhere else in the world, other than the Czech Republic, I would have been offended and, overwhelmingly, embarrassed. Luckily, though, I in the Czech Republic, land of the asymmetrical haircut, and therefore am able to defend myself by simply saying (in my head, obviously), "This is the Czech Republic. One in every five people has a mullet!"

And that is how I would win that argument.