"When are you going to get pregnant?"

Photo from the National Institute of Health

What makes people assume that they have a right to inquire about the state of your uterus? I hear this complaint from actually pregnant women all of the time, from women who ask the sex, if it is twins, comment on how big/small you look, want to touch your burgeoning belly, there is not end. I originally thought this was confined to my gravid sisters, but apparently the general public feels free to comment on any woman's condition, at any time.

I was at the bank soon after I was wed to change my bank account information and the nice young man who was helping me said, "Oh, are you pregnant?" I looked at him with such shock and dismay, and wondering if I did indeed look the part, that he followed up his question..."Well, I just got married the same time as you and my wife is already pregnant." At which time he looked down at my paperwork, more specifically at my age, and said, "I mean, you're not getting any younger you know. Don't you want to make your husband happy with a baby? Why else would you get married if you didn't want to have kids?" The fact that this bank teller was attempting to counsel me on not only having children but also my marriage astounded me to the point of speechlessness. When did society lose any sense of privacy and decency? It is one thing if an old town biddie whom you have known since childhood accosts you with these questions, or a doting grandmother, but for a complete stranger to pose this to me is a breach of all common decency. Of course, I promptly switched my bank. So dear readers, regale me with your tales of invaded privacy if you please....