Burka at the ObGyn

Visiting my dermatologist today for my annual redhead's skin cancer checkup, I saw a full length burka wearing pregnant woman coming into the building, accompanied by a bare-armed, bare-headed man, both holding hands with a sweet toddler boy, swinging happily between them.  A happy family picture except for the visual jolt of the blue burka.  I couldn't help wondering about the counter clerk's dilemma when the moment would come for a request for picture id from the expectant mother, and further, how would the obgyn exam be conducted with proper cultural and religious decorum?  I was between bemused and amused just thinking about it all.

There are days when I can well imagine the benefits of covering up from head to toe just to run to the store, when I've slept badly and missed a laundry cycle for clean jeans, so I don the American equivalent by covering up with baseball cap, sunglasses and sweats, not nearly as elegant as a flowing gown, but worn by my free choice.  Having just written that, I see that's arrogant of me,  to presume that the woman I saw today, and others just like her are wearing their burkas under protest.  Why do we presume that?  There are orthodox Jewish women in this northern California county,who choose to cover up their hair and arms with long clothing and wigs.  There are days when that, too, sounds appealing to me.  I'd cover up my arms because they're cosmetically challenged these days and my hair isn't very obedient, so I'd wear a wig, if I wanted or needed to. A friend of mine looks great in her long blond tresses, made in China, and chooses different looks for different moods and seasons. 

One thing that's certainly true is if I actually had covered myself from head to toe when I lived in the tropics years ago, I wouldn't be worried about skin cancer checkups and arms that look as if someone spat tobacco juice through a sieve all over them.  Just makes me think about the wisdom of covering up and the freedom to stay that way if I wanted to.