LGBT

As a gay man working in retail, in a city that has, arguable, some of the most colorful personalities on the planet, the west side of Los Angeles, I, no doubt, run in to some extremely interesting folks.

We are going to highlight two different personality types today, for your reading pleasure.

One, we will call, “Miss Know It All – High Queen”, and the other, “Drug Induced Mixer Upper”. For short, we will go with Queenie, and Druggie.

The following stories are, while a bit colorized, totally true.

Now, Queenie, we see all the time. Sometimes several times a week. I was warned about her upon being hired. The store could be packed, with a line that is at least 15-20 minutes in length, and she still
demands to be taken first, no matter what. And, not only first, but she wants the product at 1/2 price! Every time!

Management has simply shrugged their shoulders with her, because she does bring in business. She isn’t malicious. Just annoying.

And, she pokes, prods, and gets angry if something isn’t done correctly, no matter what kind of pressure the associates are under. I work in a high volume store, and her understanding of this simple
fact is null and void.

I don’t think I’ve ever rung her up. I am not sure if I would know how! And, I’ve been there almost five months!

She always claims that she doesn’t have any money, and is on a budget, but yet, runs this “fabulous” business. It’s almost as if she is trying to prove that she is Queenie of Staples. Does she do this
everywhere she goes? What happens at the grocery store? Every one of them is generally always busy in this side of town.

On to Druggie. I think he tweaks. He comes in with a necklace with, I kid you not, at least 10-15 different flash drives around his neck. I work in a facsimile copy shop, so we service documents printed from
flash drives. I wonder if anyone ever asked him to condense his work onto one, or two? Each one is not filled.

So, with very little patience (hardly any of our customers have much patience), he is sitting behind our computer, trying to open files. Nothing opens. He then wants to invade our space with his raggedy,
old computer, to try and make it right. To no avail!

This isn’t the first time this hallucinogenic has done this to us.

Like the very crack he snorts, he’s a waste of time.

Alas, such is the guest service world that I inhabit. If I didn’t have the patience I have, I might be one of those clowns.

Moral of the story…. Next time you go into a facsimile copy shop (Kinkos, Office Depot, or the like), please take a deep breath, and be kind to the associates back there. It isn’t an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. Most everyone has large jobs, that take some time, and no one wants to wait for anything.

Tell me – I am curious to know….

Why, in the history of film, have family entertainment films been absolutely devoid of any LGBT love whatsoever?

If you actually sit down, and ask kids weather or not they care if there are two men, two women, or otherwise kissing each other up there on the screen, (especially if they are lesbian, gay, or bisexual themselves), then you may be surprised that they wouldn’t care.

With children, I would bet that it is far more simple than that. As long as good prevails in the end, it’s fun, magical, and the story is quality, than all is well.

It has been suggested to me that all this is over paranoid parents, who clearly are the ones paying for the entertainment, wouldn’t be able to stomach such stuff.

Now, to an extent, one can very much understand that studio’s point of view. Supposedly, most of the world is straight. So, it makes sense to market to most of the world.

Thank you so much for missing out on potentially more LGBT dollars, than you would have gotten otherwise (if such a thing can even be quantified, when based on who is “out”, and who isn’t..??).

I also find it incredibly interesting that such an idea is never explored, hinted at, tested, or otherwise produced on any level, despite how many LGBT folks are clearly within the upper echelon of Hollywood royalty.

Ahhh….. “The Hollywood Rules”. So productive! Oh, I forgot! They are productive when they want to be! Otherwise, the “rules” are then “the black book”. Cute.

An interesting notion….. A young adult piece of fiction with LGBT characters, issues, etc…. It’s only a matter of time. Just now, while I write this, such a thing is being produced, I happen to personally know.

The straight angle of young adult, and children’s stories that have been put out by the major seven Hollywood studios have captivated me for too long. Something huge is coming, and I am happy to be at the helm!

“Hey baby, wanna go out?”
“Sure! You’re hot.”
“Your house or mine?”
“Where do you live?”
“Compton. I swear, it’s fine.”
“Uhhh, that’s alright. I will move on. Thanks anyway.”

Immediately this was a judgement call. One man obviously thought that the other man was probably dangerous, poor, or for whatever reason, didn’t live up to whatever standards were expected – within a three minute conversation.

Power. Money. Riches. Status quo. High end cars. Muscles. Etc…

Such are the things that much of the gay culture are based on. Oh, I forgot sex. My husband feels that we are a divided culture. One half would be a potentially younger generation, where little means anything but status. And the other half would perhaps be an older generation where building solid foundations for meaningful futures remains a top priority.

At the risk of generalizing aside, I continue…

The point here is, if the gay community at large wants to only think about superficial things, than that is what being gay will ultimately mean. A farce. Something to laugh at, indeed. You’ll laugh, but, after dating many, many men, I can say for myself that most of them couldn’t spell a good majority of the words in this very blog! Sad, but true.

Now, there are a very small minority out there who do wish to get better. Like anyone else on planet earth, they probably worked for it, because rich heirs are getting to be fewer and fewer. Typically,
if you work extremely hard for the nice things that you have, you are a nicer person. Imagine that! One then understands what it takes to “get there”. For those out there who are snots, and try to snake
their way into such a lifestyle, they typically find themselves only at the fringe, and end up being bitter. What a sad, and empty soul of a being that no professional in their right mind would put up with.

So, if we are to be respected in this world, have things such as a Prop 8 pass and live equally with dignity, than we need to start acting like it.