Telling Family, Friends & Co-workers
By George Winlock


Many people are faced with the problem of how to tell others that they have become nudists. I felt that by my not saying anything I was hiding an important part of my life from my friends and family and they would then get the impression that the reason I had not told them was that I was ashamed of, and wanted to hide, what I was doing.

I have always believed that I would rather have people learn the truth from me rather than have them find out something about me from another source that may not be as accurate.

Once a year we have a kind of family get-together and often go for a swim in the lake. We find places to change into bathing suits (males in one room, females in another).

My problem was that members of my immediate family (some of them children who are blunt about what they want to say and when they say it) would notice that I lacked the tan lines that textiles like to wear. So rather than wait for this deficiency to be commented on when someone else wanted to mention it, I decided to say something when I would be comfortable with the subject. So when I was visiting my sister and Mother and the subject of my tan came up I informed them that I had joined a resort where I could get an all-over tan. There was kind of a dead silence and the subject was changed. Fine by me. Mission accomplished. They had heard it from me first. Since then I have been asked a few questions and have told them about some to the places I have gone and things I have done. My family is pretty much accepting it, but I don't think they have said anything to anyone else.

When I was working one of my bosses once asked me where I was going to go on vacation and as I was going to one of the TNS Gatherings I just replied Western Mass. When he asked where in Western Mass I told him the name of the town. When he asked where in the town I told him the name of the resort. That really interested him because he was good friends with the people that ran the place and he himself had spent a lot of time there As the resort is really a conference center and not a nudist resort (except for the time we go there) he wanted to know what I would be doing there. Now this place has a lot of groups that spend time there and I am sure that most of the groups kind of blend together, but somehow, I think that we are quite different and stand out.

Again I did not want to give the impression that I was hiding anything and I knew that as soon as he mentioned to his friends there that I was there at a certain time they would tell him what group I was with. My answer to the question of what I would be doing included the fact that I would be skinny-dipping. His reply was "Oh, you are one of those".

I have found that people are more receptive to the fact that I go skinny-dipping rather than starting with the fact that I am a nudist Since that time I have told others in the office that I am an nudist and while I am not ashamed of the fact it is not something that would most likely be posted on the bulletin board or mentioned in the company newsletter. However, on one of the business trips I had to take once I left on Saturday rather than Sunday because the airfare was a lot cheaper. Rather than spend two nights at the place where the conference was to be held I stayed at Desert Shadows Inn and, because I was saving the company money they paid my expenses there.

Not everyone I know needs to know every aspect of my life. As some people are not going to change their misconceptions about nudism, explaining it to them is like trying to teach a pig to sing It only wastes your time and annoys the pig So although I am not ashamed of, nor do I hide the fact I am a nudist, many of the people I do know are not aware of the fact that I am a nudist.

My car has an AANR sticker on one window and an N sticker on the other window My front license plate says "Skinny-Dippers Grin & Bare It".

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