...but I was full of piss and vinegar today. (Like the old-timey lingo?)
So twice today I was sassy to complete strangers. Without even thinking. Like it was second natu
re. Like I was... Jenn. (Seriously, loyal readers... I can't even tell you how many times I thought Jenn would get us beat up by complete strangers... like the time she tried to give away a buy-one-get-one Long Island Ice Tea to a woman at a bar, basically just setting it in front of the woman).
I think it's a function of having lived in Chicago for 3 years now (as of this weekend!). And using public transportation the whole time.
Anyhoo, the first "incident" came after lunch today. A booth had been set up outside our cafeteria advertising a blood drive next week. A woman said to us as we were passing by, "Would you like to help us out? We're having a blood drive next week." Without a second thought I said, "No, sorry I can't. I'm not allowed." Much to the delight of my friend Leslie that was with me. I totally don't regret it though. The fact that as a gay man I can't give blood in this country is discrimination, plain and simple.
Later today I got onto a crowded bus. I was near the front with nowhere to move and no one in the back was moving further back. This girl got behind me and was all, "excuse me! excuse me!" After her having done that several times and me having moved as far as polite / possible into the personal space of the poor guy in front of me, she kept trying to shove past me. So I said, "I don't know where you think your going to go!" And she was all, "there're people trying to get on the bus. The people on the front need to move back." To which I replied, "No, the people on the back need to move back." Seriously, I can't go back until everyone ahead of me moves to the back and it's one of my pet peeves when people don't recognize this and shove past you to move back on the bus. I'm sorry but I want to move back too but I'm not a FUCKING ASSHOLE. I've almost been knocked over by douches thinking that's okay.
I guess I don't know if I like this new "city sass". That's what I'll call it. The jury's out. What does everyone think? I NEVER would have done that when I lived in Denver or Omaha. Is this the new Chicago Paul? New and improved with a touch of ass? Or just plain ass?
3 comments:
I love the Sex and the City Style of your column--I mean, post.
It might be age, too. For those of you who don't know, I'm older than P&D (hahahaha). I think I got to a point where I regretted never saying anything, so now it all comes out. I am working on tempering it with compassion, though, so I don't turn out to be a crotchety old lady.
About the blood drive: P, you're a clinician--what exactly ARE the reasons they don't want blood from gay men (or men who have had sex with another man since 1972, even if only once)? I mean, I assume there's an entire generation of gay men right now who have never gone bareback, so what's the risk there? Plus, I thought other populations had substantial growth in HIV numbers? So why don't they ban African-American women between the ages of 16 and 22? *making up the demo*
Honestly, I think there is discrimination at work. It's as if gay men carry disease. We need to do something about this... I thought for a long time I just wouldn't give blood, but 1. why punish the people who need it? and 2. I had ulterior motives (I scared a' needles!) Do we write letters? Make t-shirts? What?
OOH--MAKE T SHIRTS AND SELL THEM ON OUR BLOG???
From Wikipedia:
For the US, in 2006, the AABB, American Red Cross, and America's Blood Centers all supported a change from a lifetime deferral of MSM to one year since most recent contact. One model suggested that this change would result in one additional case of HIV transmitted by transfusion every 32.8 years. The AABB has suggested making this change since 1997. The FDA did not accept the proposal and had concerns about the data used to produce the model, citing that additional risk to recipients was not justified.
Apparently, we have to write the FDA.
Interesting you should mention barebacking. I read recently in a magazine article (The Advocate, maybe?) that there is an alarming increase in barebacking in the younger generations. The article said it was for two reasons: (1) gay porn has a lot of bareback scenes these days and (2) younger generations have not been as devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
But the blood thing is still stupid. And for the record, even IF they changed the rules to one year since most recent contact, I still couldn't (and wouldn't) give. That's still a stupid rule.
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