Gee
willikers! What am I supposed to write
about the topic “Public Places?” We all
have been in public places many times all throughout our lives, unless one of
us always has lived under a rock. Were
we expected to write about something we did that was wonderful and spectacular,
or was it something embarrassing?
Regarding myself, I can't think of anything exciting enough to be worthy
of describing. I haven't led the most
adventuresome life.
I
assume by the term “public places,” the person who selected the topic was
thinking of areas where there are lots of people around, where whatever
occurred was witnessed by a large number of people. Well, I can relate incidents that I witnessed
or was told about that might have some modicum of interest to the
listeners. So, here goes.
When
I was in college, I was friends with one guy, Jeff, and his younger brother,
Jim. They had very different
personalities. My friend often displayed
a weird sense of humor; his brother always preferred to appear more serious - -
- that is, until they were together.
Occasionally when they got together, the situation turned into a folie
à deux, that is, a “madness shared by two.”
Having been in Army ROTC, they both ended up as army lieutenants in
Vietnam. Jeff returned first and rather
let himself go, not doing anything in particular, not bothering to shave, just
taking it easy. Prim Jim, however,
returned in uniform expecting a similarly neatly dressed brother to pick him up
at the airport. Instead, Jeff appeared
wearing an old, torn raincoat and looking bedraggled. Spotting
Jim, he shuffled over to him, mimicking a demented Quasimodo. Jim, already terribly embarrassed, became
even more so when Jeff, imitating some kind of transient who was truly off his
rocker, mumbled in a very loud voice, “Can you tell me where the really big
planes are?”
Naturally,
everyone within ear-shot turned around to look, regarding Jeff with great
suspicion and discomfort. I assume that
this incident qualifies for happening in a very public place, an airport with
hundreds of people around. I hasten to
mention that this occurred long before 911, so Jeff was not hauled off by the
authorities.
Jeff
and Jim also were rather disdainful of university-fraternities. I recall one day their walking together past
a row of fraternities where a large number of frat-brats were sitting out on
their porches. Now, this was back in the
day when fear and disgust of homosexuals was far more prevalent than now. Realizing that they were being watched, Jeff
and Jim suddenly threw their arms around each other and began dancing gayly
down the sidewalk, merrily singing. The
expressions on those frat-brat guys' faces were priceless, and I enjoyed seeing
it all.
Speaking
of gay, I wrote earlier about the gayest person I ever saw on campus. In everyone's eyes, Peter was obviously
gay. He looked rather androgynous, had
long golden hair, and was considered remarkably beautiful. His choice of cute little clothes added to
that perception. But, Peter was far
different from most gays at the time.
People found him to be so remarkable looking that he had gained a
surprising sense of self-esteem and confidence.
Usually,
people simply stared at Peter in astonishment. If
anyone might have said something nasty to him, I imagine
that Peter did not let it bother him. He apparently
rarely had any such experiences. I do know
of one occasion, however.
I
recall one evening walking into a campus-bar where
both
straight and a few gays went. I saw Peter entering ahead of me. Once inside, some college-stud, sitting with
his date, looked at Peter in complete disgust, and said
in a loud voice, “Look, here comes a fagot!” Everyone
turned to look at the speaker and Peter.
As
Peter passed by, and without hesitation, he spoke up loudly stating, “This man
just called me a 'fagot.' Yes, he called
me a 'fagot.' What is a 'fagot'? Can someone tell me what a 'fagot' is?” Everyone stared at the homophobic
college-stud, whose face quickly had turned a deep red. He then sank down in his chair, as though he
wished he could disappear, thoroughly humiliated. Peter, head held high, proceeded on by to
seek out some friends. There sure were a
lot of people in that public place, and stud-guy sure drew a lot of attention
to himself that he didn't plan on.
Last
of all, I remember my trip to Fort Lauderdale for spring-break from
college. Late one afternoon and evening,
I was at a night-spot on the beach. In
addition to lots of college guys, there also were some older, wealthy Cuban
emigré-men, all enjoying themselves. I
noticed a young stud who looked no older than seventeen, very buff and very
smooth, wearing a tiny swimming suit. He
occasionally dove elegantly, smoothly into a small swimming pool. Then he would climb out, deliberately seeming
to ignore the crowd, and quietly stroll around the rim of the pool as though he
were on parade at a fashion-show. He
knew exactly what he was doing. With
regularity, one or other of the Cubans would walk over to him and slip a
large-denomination bill into the boy's tiny swimsuit. This went on for a while. Finally, he must have received some rather
impressive amount because he quietly proceeded to strip naked, stand for a
moment to be admired, and then smoothly dove into the pool.
Well,
I would say that night-spot certainly qualified as a public place, and he
certainly drew attention from the crowd.
I can understand why, too. Hey! I'd be satisfied just having a body like
that, even without all that money.
© 17 May 2016
About the Author
I have had a life-long fascination with
people and their life stories. I also
realize that, although my own life has not brought me particular fame or
fortune, I too have had some noteworthy experiences and, at times, unusual
ones. Since I joined this Story Time
group, I have derived pleasure and satisfaction participating in the group. I do put some thought and effort into my
stories, and I hope that you find them interesting.
