From the beginning of this pregnancy I've been hearing about The Belly Touch. Magazine, books, friends passing on anecdotal stories…they all talk about how when you're pregnant total strangers will start touching your belly.
I talk about intimate details of my life on the internet, so I figured I was pretty prepared for this. Looking back, I think I wasn't bothered by the idea so much because I pictured a sweet, elderly grandmotherish type figure gently placing a light touch on my stomach in the scrapbooking section of Michael's or something.
That was not my experience. I took the car in for an oil change and when the mechanic came out he wiped his hands on his towel, grabbed each side of my belly with his hands and started shaking it up and down exclaiming "Oh, look at the little baby in there!"
And I was completely taken aback. I was prepared for someone to touch my belly. I was not prepared for someone to grab my belly and then proceed to shake it like a polaroid picture.
He then told me he hoped I'd found the visit satisfactory and asked me to fill out an online survey evaluating my experience with him.
Upon recounting the story to my father, he told me I should mention on the survey that while the oil change was great, I felt very uncomfortable with the inappropriate touching from the strange man.
(P.S. Some of y'all were worried so I wanted to reassure you that my dad and I were just joking around, I'd never report the guy for being friendly and sweet!)
