Tag Archives: Facebook

I Believe in You

Woodland Reserve. My bourbon of choice. Does the trick in silencing a toothache and enables a good night’s sleep. Not slugging from the bottle, just a couple of fingers does the trick.

I was talking to Pedro on the phone yesterday, playing catch up. Mentioned the bourbon and that’s one liquor he won’t touch. No to bourbon.

Once again I woke up, the inner voice pleading with me to take the day off, play hooky. With the toothache I had a legitimate excuse. And I was thisclose to actually calling in, but no. I rallied and shuffled along.

Much care in the drinking of coffee. That went well actually. I eventually found myself on the bus which actually was on time this morning. And the bus wasn’t crowded.

No Angie Baby on the bus either. Her bleached blond hair was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps sitting next to me has caused her to catch an earlier or later bus. I didn’t mind. I’ve been such a zombie lately that I don’t even read in the morning, I just sit and look out the window.

Made it to the shop on time. Actually with time to spare which I spent in the backroom and just chilling out and cooling off. No humidity today, just heat. And it was hot. And of course I wear a suit & tie.

I had a flask which I filled with some Woodland Reserve and not long after getting to work I took a few sips that quieted down the toothache. I alternated the sips of bourbon with sips of water which did the trick.

Bill stopped by the store since he called me before I left the apartment and asked if I could bring his keys to work. He noticed the bourbon on my breath. It was nice to see him in the middle of the day. It was actually the highpoint.

I called Bill’s dentist to tell them what was going on in my mouth. Bill scheduled an appointment for me on Friday and when I called on my lunch hour I spoke with Dawn. I told her the story and she told me that there was a cancellation and that they could see me on Thursday instead of Friday.

That was fine by me, the sooner the better. I went back to the cigar shop after my lunch and told Calvin the latest news. He mentioned that I could go on my lunch hour on Thursday.

The backroom was crowded with cigar smokers including one who had smoked too fast and got dizzy and dehydrated. He had to lay down on the floor of the bathroom and get himself together for about a half hour.

I neglected to mention that Marcus had posted on Facebook and Twitter this morning, that the first 10 people to call the cigar shop with a $50.00 order will get a free lighter or cutter. The phones went crazy and the first 8 calls were some of Marcus’ NYPD buddies.

Apparently he has quite a few of NYPD buddies. They stop by, a few patrolmen each day. On top of that, or perhaps under that, there were a few bent nose types hanging around. Guys you wouldn’t want to mess with.

Guys that look like they were from Lodi, or even Hoboken back in the day. They don’t take part in Facebook/Twitter viral contests. And they only pay cash.

Made it from the cigar shop to the bus terminal in 16:30 thanks to the Buzzcocks, Singles Going Steady.

I need a new job.

Half A Person

Tuesday. All is wet. I suppose Lodi is under water. I’ve read a few reports from Pravda, I mean Facebook that their homes and backyards are under water. I have a lot of sympathy for them and for my relatives who might find themselves in the same boat, no pun intended.

And it’s been raining hard today, coming down in sheets. I did make it outside twice. Once to the Guitar Bar where Jim was off so that was a wasted trip, but I was glad to make it outside. I enjoyed a cigar on my stroll. Not too many people out and about and I didn’t mind.

I also stopped by the bibliothèque where I was told something I had ordered was in but they couldn’t find it. I looked at the list online and it was listed as ‘fiction’ which is something I don’t really read. On closer inspection it turned out to be a VI Warshawski book and I’m not a reader of detective stories.

And I didn’t reserve it either so it’s just as well that it wasn’t there.

The past 24 hours have been a good time to be online, at least for me. The Ricky Martin coming out story has had me defending Ricky Martin, which I didn’t mind doing. A lot of gay guys were as usual catty about it, saying things like ‘as if we didn’t know’ and things along those lines.

I found myself on the Huffington Post replying to some person who wrote, ‘Should straight people get a press conference for their sexuality’. It was like a red flag to a bull.

I had to write back, “Why would a press conference for a straight person be necessary? It’s a straight world. Straight ads, movies and TV shows are everywhere. Coming out is not an easy thing to do and people do it in their own time, in their own way. Ricky Martin’s coming out is probably a dinner table discussion and someone somewhere is more than likely mustering up the courage to come out to their friends and/or families.”

Of course it didn’t end there. I re-posted the Huffington Post link onto my Facebook page and got a few responses. One friend, a nice guy, a right winger from Long Island who I know through some Facebook cigar groups had some problems with the whole Ricky Martin story.

Pete is the bloke’s name and we generally butt heads on some issues, but he’s a nice guy with good taste in cigars. He wrote that Ricky Martin was a flash in the pan and here in the US he might have been a one hit wonder, everywhere else in the world he was pretty much top of the pops.

Pete thought George Michael had the right idea, keep making music and not say anything about his sexuality until he was caught soliciting an undercover police officer in a restroom in Hollywood.

Pete replied, “I can respect that. But RM holding a press conference over it makes it seem like he just wanted the attention. Maybe I just see it in a different light because I never really cared about a person’s sexual orientation, only their character as a person. Is it one of those gay things that I wouldn’t understand?”

I had to set Pete straight, no pun intended again. Here is my full reply. Sorry if you read it on Facebook, but not everyone who reads this here blog is on Facebook.

I wrote: He didn’t have a press conference, he published an open letter in 2 newspapers. I think Ricky Martin’s way of coming out is a lot better than getting caught propositioning a police officer in the loo.

And yeah Pete, it is something that most straight people don’t ‘get’. Coming out for most gay people is a terrifying ordeal. I myself was outed at work and the next day, half of my friends were no longer my friend, even though I was still the same guy.

Another friend who is straight, back then was upset that I didn’t trust him enough to tell him directly. It’s a strange position to find yourself in, and with someone with a name like Ricky Martin, it can only help.

Picture a group of friends discussing RM, and one person says something disparaging, and another getting fed up and saying ‘You know what? I’m Gay etc.’ or maybe saying ‘You know what? My brother/sister etc is gay and that’s not cool.’

A similar situation happened to me, but I won’t get into that here.

Ricky Martin puts a friendly face (albeit an extremely handsome face) on being gay, and you know that can’t be bad.

To grow up and realizing you are gay when it flies in the face of this straight world we all reside in creates a feeling of total isolation. It is a reason why there are gay teen suicides. They can’t handle it.

I myself grew up hearing Faggot/Homo jokes around the dining room table, and when I realized what I was it was scary. Was I this freak, this horrible type that my family ridiculed and damned?

I had to live a double life from the age of 14 until I was 22. The terror of being found out forced me to live a lie. Lying to my family and to my friends achieved nothing but loathing and distrust.

I think I got my point across since Pete wrote back:
“Thanks for explaining it to me John. Maybe I won’t ever truly “get it” but I appreciate you giving me a really good explanation and I’m sorry that people that were your friend stopped being your friend over you being gay…that’s sad on their part. After all, as you said, you were the same person the day you were outed as you were the day before.

If it’s any consolation, I’d be more than honored to share a smoke and a drink with you if you’re ever on long island.”

I don’t plan on being on Long Island anytime soon but I like to think I got this one guy to think a little bit differently. So yes, Ricky Martin coming out of the closet is a good thing. A very good thing.

And also to quote Sinead O’Connor- FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY!

NOT THE REAL ENEMY

NOT THE REAL ENEMY


March 30 2010 Photo-0064