Hejab, personal

1. I was going to the "Institution for Building Schools" in Tehran for getting data about school construction. It was in a nice neighborhood in northern Tehran, in a little alley.I went there with proper hejab, a "maghna'e" I had borrowed from a cousin and a long, black "roopoosh", and no makeup, obviously. I went inside and three middle aged men were sitting in the lobby. They were all unshaven and dressed in the typical white blouse and baggy gray pants; They looked kind of unprofessional and careless. The first thing they said after hello was: "khanoom", please fix your hejab. I looked at them with awe. I could not fix it anymore, really. Anyway, I pulled my "maghna'e" further down into myface just to make them feel better. Then they asked for an ID,and the only ID I had was my California Driver License!!! Not only was my head not covered in the picture, I was also wearing a revealing top! I gave it to them, somewhat embarrassed. They accepted it, stared at it, and gave me an unpleasant smile. I just ignored them and left.
I came down to leave an hour or so later, upset at the system for not keeping data, for being so short sighted, irresponsible and unprofessional; for not caring at all. I got to the lobby, and of the three men, there was only one left, and he was on the phone. Before I got to talk at all, an old man, the servant (abdarchi) came up to me, with his blue uniform and a kind, fatherly smile. He looked like a "babaye madrese". He opened his shabby coat and from his inside pocket took out my driver license. He said : Ghaayemesh kardam ke hich ki nabine.[I hid it so no one would look at you (without hejab)].
This was just too cute.
I smiled back.I was thankful to him for doing that. For protecting my dignity the only way he knew how to. By hiding the real me!!

2. Maman gorgani was not religious at all, not even conservative, really. When I went back to Iran over the summer, I used to visit her everyday in the afternoon. In the unbearable heat(and humidity) of Gorgan, I usually wore as little as I could manage inside the house without baba saying that our "saraydar" would be insulted. Maman lived next door, so I'd just put on a roopoosh and run to her house. when I took the roopoosh out, she would look at me with amazement, her eyes twice their usual size. Then she would say "Unjaa intori miri birooon?"[do you go out like this in the US??] and I would say yes (while actually it wasn't exactly true). She would bite her lips,move her head to left and right in disapproval and say "VAAA", Na, pretending it's so outragous she couldn't believe it.This was our daily routine; I think both of us knew this was just a game, but I just loved to look sexier each time to induce her to play her role in a more exagerated way. Then we'd both laugh and say KHOB, now what's new today?!!