(no subject)
My hormones are out of control. That would probably explain why I was practically moved to tears (practically) by a story told to me over a SKYPE video conversation with someone that I haven't been paying enough attention to lately.
I asked how old he was. He said "69. Just like my myspace says." I figured he was just being secretive because he was in fact much older than I thought and didn't want me to be turned away. That's basically what his intentions were, but the manner in which he explained it to me was perfect. He spoke me a movie. That doesn't make grammatical sense, but it is what he did. I can't recreate the cinematic experience he led me through, but I can summarize as eloquently as possible.
He told me he saw a guy at 7-11 that was the most beautiful guy he had ever seen. Now, the man who is telling me the story is deathly shy. So shy that when you pay him the simplest, most harmless of compliments, his caramel skin turns cherry red and he ducks his face behind his hands and peeps through his fingers to see if you're freaked out by that shyness. That is why it is particularly astonishing that this shy man mustered up the courage to scribble his number on a tiny piece of paper, and hand it to the beautiful 7-11 guy (who, by the way he had no idea was gay or not) and ask "If I were to give you my number, would you call me?"
"Yes."
Time goes by a couple of months. No call. The beautiful 7-11 guy fades to the back of his mind.
Until, he sees the man outside of a club. He walks up to him, and asks "Why didn't you call me?" A shrug. "I don't know."
So he walks away and once again, Mr. 7-11 recedes out of memory. Until you fast-forward 6 more months, and he notices the guy sitting at a booth in a restaurant. The guy motions him to come over, and he reluctantly agrees.
"What's up? Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure," he says.
"Cool. Just give me a couple minutes and I'll be right back."
He waits for about 5 or 6 minutes when he thinks about how stupid he must seem, waiting for a guy he gave his number to in a convenience store that has repeatedly blown him off. He leaves and doesn't hear anything or see that guy again. Until, you fast-forward a couple more months so that it was almost a year since that 7-11 encounter.
He's driving West on Santa Monica blvd. in Los Angeles. He's making a left hand turn into a parking lot, but notices a car driving East, signaling to make a turn into the same parking lot. In the passenger seat of that other car is Mr. 7-11. Now at this point in time, he's over the whole situation and doesn't want to give the nigga any of his energy, even though they clearly saw each other.
He parks as far away from the man as possible, hoping to avoid him as much as possible. That doesn't work, because the guy, who is now standing outside of the car is yelling and beckoning him to come over. He does, reluctantly.
The guy says "I've spent the whole day looking for you."
"Yeah right."
"No really, I have."
"I don't believe you, but ok."
The driver of the other car steps outside and introduces himself. The driver says that his best friend has been telling him, for a bout a year, about this guy who gave him his number at a 7-11, and that he's been trying to get to know him for over a year. The driver says that he got so sick of hearing about it, that he decided to drive his friend all around town until the found him.
"Why didn't you call?"
"I lost your number?"
"Why didn't you say anything when I saw you?"
"I was too afraid."
So fast-forward one last time. Mr. 7-11 and Him begin dating. They get serious and take trips together. But one day, Mr. 7-11 tell him that he has a secret that has been killing him for quite some time. The guy tells him that he lied about his age.
"How old are you then?"
"17."
He freaks out because he is now realizing that he has fallen in love with a 17 year old and there's nothing he can do about it. He wants to end the relationship, but can't. So, they continue dating and end up being together for 4 years.
Now, he told me this story, which in it's original spoken form is about 30 minutes, all because I asked him his age. He said that he never asks people their age, or what they do for a living because when he knows those answers, he starts setting limits for that person. He said that had he known that Mr. 7-11 was actually 17, he would have brushed off an incredible opportunity, and a guy who turned out to be amazing. He would have missed out on what he described as 4 turbulent, incredible, years where he was able to learn and grow.
And I don't know why I'm typing all of this here.
But he really kind of opened my eyes and let me know that I need to get to know the person, not all the words and numbers attached to them.
And now, I really want to get to know him.
I asked how old he was. He said "69. Just like my myspace says." I figured he was just being secretive because he was in fact much older than I thought and didn't want me to be turned away. That's basically what his intentions were, but the manner in which he explained it to me was perfect. He spoke me a movie. That doesn't make grammatical sense, but it is what he did. I can't recreate the cinematic experience he led me through, but I can summarize as eloquently as possible.
He told me he saw a guy at 7-11 that was the most beautiful guy he had ever seen. Now, the man who is telling me the story is deathly shy. So shy that when you pay him the simplest, most harmless of compliments, his caramel skin turns cherry red and he ducks his face behind his hands and peeps through his fingers to see if you're freaked out by that shyness. That is why it is particularly astonishing that this shy man mustered up the courage to scribble his number on a tiny piece of paper, and hand it to the beautiful 7-11 guy (who, by the way he had no idea was gay or not) and ask "If I were to give you my number, would you call me?"
"Yes."
Time goes by a couple of months. No call. The beautiful 7-11 guy fades to the back of his mind.
Until, he sees the man outside of a club. He walks up to him, and asks "Why didn't you call me?" A shrug. "I don't know."
So he walks away and once again, Mr. 7-11 recedes out of memory. Until you fast-forward 6 more months, and he notices the guy sitting at a booth in a restaurant. The guy motions him to come over, and he reluctantly agrees.
"What's up? Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure," he says.
"Cool. Just give me a couple minutes and I'll be right back."
He waits for about 5 or 6 minutes when he thinks about how stupid he must seem, waiting for a guy he gave his number to in a convenience store that has repeatedly blown him off. He leaves and doesn't hear anything or see that guy again. Until, you fast-forward a couple more months so that it was almost a year since that 7-11 encounter.
He's driving West on Santa Monica blvd. in Los Angeles. He's making a left hand turn into a parking lot, but notices a car driving East, signaling to make a turn into the same parking lot. In the passenger seat of that other car is Mr. 7-11. Now at this point in time, he's over the whole situation and doesn't want to give the nigga any of his energy, even though they clearly saw each other.
He parks as far away from the man as possible, hoping to avoid him as much as possible. That doesn't work, because the guy, who is now standing outside of the car is yelling and beckoning him to come over. He does, reluctantly.
The guy says "I've spent the whole day looking for you."
"Yeah right."
"No really, I have."
"I don't believe you, but ok."
The driver of the other car steps outside and introduces himself. The driver says that his best friend has been telling him, for a bout a year, about this guy who gave him his number at a 7-11, and that he's been trying to get to know him for over a year. The driver says that he got so sick of hearing about it, that he decided to drive his friend all around town until the found him.
"Why didn't you call?"
"I lost your number?"
"Why didn't you say anything when I saw you?"
"I was too afraid."
So fast-forward one last time. Mr. 7-11 and Him begin dating. They get serious and take trips together. But one day, Mr. 7-11 tell him that he has a secret that has been killing him for quite some time. The guy tells him that he lied about his age.
"How old are you then?"
"17."
He freaks out because he is now realizing that he has fallen in love with a 17 year old and there's nothing he can do about it. He wants to end the relationship, but can't. So, they continue dating and end up being together for 4 years.
Now, he told me this story, which in it's original spoken form is about 30 minutes, all because I asked him his age. He said that he never asks people their age, or what they do for a living because when he knows those answers, he starts setting limits for that person. He said that had he known that Mr. 7-11 was actually 17, he would have brushed off an incredible opportunity, and a guy who turned out to be amazing. He would have missed out on what he described as 4 turbulent, incredible, years where he was able to learn and grow.
And I don't know why I'm typing all of this here.
But he really kind of opened my eyes and let me know that I need to get to know the person, not all the words and numbers attached to them.
And now, I really want to get to know him.