Not fair game

I watched a perfect stranger walk up to a pregnant woman today and touch her belly without even asking, "May I please touch your belly even though I'm a perfect stranger?" I remembered how I disliked it when that happened to me. I also disliked all the unsolicited advice I got while pregnant with Em. "You're not getting big enough...you're getting too big...you're how far along?...don't drink skimmed milk; the baby needs fat!...your breasts will never be the same (maybe better??)..." and on and on. Sometimes it made me cry, probably because I didn't have the gumption to tell people to back off at the tender age of 22. I try to be very respectful of Em's body and her feelings, though I did catch myself a couple of times with hands midair heading straight for her tummy like it was community property. How dare I.  On the upside, strangers tend to be very polite with pregnant women, holding doors and offering their seats. That's nice.