Plus Size Shopping with my Non-Plus Size Friend

People say that women and shopping are synonymous, right? Wrong! Not when you are

plus size and your friend is not. I absolutely hate shopping with non-plus size friends (NPSF). Why? Well, let me tell you. This is what shopping with my NPSFs is like:

1. While they're shopping in Aeropostale, Forever 21 and TopShop, I'm in the Mall sitting down, eating caramel popcorn, waiting for them to come out of the store.
2. On the occasion that we go into a store with plus size clothing (but not a plus size section), they're casually looking at everything, while I'm on a treasure hunt to find one of the 4 plus sized items the store ordered...and usually, there are none.
3. Eureka! We actually enter a department store with a plus size section and...I end up shopping by myself because my NPSF is in another part of the store. So much for shopping together.
4. I decide to follow my NPSF around as SHE shops and I become the designated bag carrier. What am I? A human shopping cart?
5. There was one occasion that sticks out in my mind. I was shopping with my NPSF in a store that had plus sizes (but not a plus size section). We were browsing casually on a rack of skirts when my NPSF looks at a size 14 skirt and exclaims, "That is HUGE!". A size 14? Really? Needless to say, I never shared my 20+ clothing size with my NPSF.
6. This is just how bad it got. My NPSF and I were at an outlet mall and I wanted to go to a plus size store to get some bras. My mind was preparing itself for my NPSF to exclaim again, "This is HUGE!" or something like, "I can't find anything to fit me in here." (Mind you, my NPSF isn't an intentionally rude or insensitive person. I think she just doesn't think of me as plus size because when WE are shopping, I shy away from going into plus size sections WITH her.) Anyway...back to the story. We pull up at a plus size retailer. My NPSF is on the phone and in a deep conversation with someone. Since it appears that she's going to sit in the car and continue talking on her phone, I take this opportunity to get out ahead of her, run into the store and as quickly as I can, I grab everything I came for. By the time my NPSF walked into the store, I was already at the register checking out. Whew! Awkwardness averted.

All in all, my friend isn't my friend because of our sizes. In fact, if I would only have the courage to tell her about my take on our shopping experiences, it would probably heighten her sensitivity to plus size women. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll just forward this blog entry to her. I'm sure she loves me enough to understand and appreciate my plight...and humor.