(no subject)
Odd little incident that I'd nearly forgotten about:
We're in Paris. My friend, Francesca, who's bilingual (Korean and English) and has citizenship in the US, Canada, and Korea, was with me. So were my French teachers.
We're sitting outside this bistro. I expect I made a spectacle of myself by attempting to eat my vegetarian quiches like a sandwich, but oh well. We're all eating lunch, and there is no one on the street but us. Almost.
Two guys walk past, almost holding handing hands. Fran leans over. "They're gay!" she says, and giggles. She can act like a kid a lot of the time. Her twin sister often laments the fact.
I'm eating my quiche. "So?"
Fran grins. "It's neat. They're French and gay!"
"As opposed to Canadian and gay?" I'm still eating my quiche, and concentrating more on not getting egg and peppers on my blouse, and kinda confused as to what she's getting at.
Fran giggles again. "They're gay!" she says, louder.
The teachers hear us and look over, frantic. "Ahhhh! Shush! They can hear you, you know! Be quiet!"
I swallow and look at Fran, who's staring at me with tears in her eyes (I'm not kidding. I was looking for a tissue). "What did I do? It's not as if it's a bad thing... They shouldn't be ashamed!"
We had to explain to her that some people regard it as a bad thing, and that we were lucky that our city and our high school doesn't. We have a very large somewhat underground gay community and it's not unheard of for the most popular girls to make out in class. They're straight (er, some of them) and do it to get the reaction from the teacher, but no one bats an eye anyway.
Fran was really upset, though. I thought she was going to start crying at being chastised. I don't even think the men heard us, but if they did, I hope they realize we weren't trying to harass them (although, if they did hear us, then those big grins were very cool).
I just thought it was interesting in the insight that my high school and the attitude my community is teaching others to have towards homosexuals. My friend spent most of her life in that community. If my best friend told me she was gay I'd poke fun at her for a bit, but that would be it. It doesn't change anything, except maybe the fact that I'll meet her girlfriends rather than her boyfriends. (She actually does sleep in her closet, but that has more to do with the fact that it's either that or clean her latest project off her bed every night than anything else.)
We're in Paris. My friend, Francesca, who's bilingual (Korean and English) and has citizenship in the US, Canada, and Korea, was with me. So were my French teachers.
We're sitting outside this bistro. I expect I made a spectacle of myself by attempting to eat my vegetarian quiches like a sandwich, but oh well. We're all eating lunch, and there is no one on the street but us. Almost.
Two guys walk past, almost holding handing hands. Fran leans over. "They're gay!" she says, and giggles. She can act like a kid a lot of the time. Her twin sister often laments the fact.
I'm eating my quiche. "So?"
Fran grins. "It's neat. They're French and gay!"
"As opposed to Canadian and gay?" I'm still eating my quiche, and concentrating more on not getting egg and peppers on my blouse, and kinda confused as to what she's getting at.
Fran giggles again. "They're gay!" she says, louder.
The teachers hear us and look over, frantic. "Ahhhh! Shush! They can hear you, you know! Be quiet!"
I swallow and look at Fran, who's staring at me with tears in her eyes (I'm not kidding. I was looking for a tissue). "What did I do? It's not as if it's a bad thing... They shouldn't be ashamed!"
We had to explain to her that some people regard it as a bad thing, and that we were lucky that our city and our high school doesn't. We have a very large somewhat underground gay community and it's not unheard of for the most popular girls to make out in class. They're straight (er, some of them) and do it to get the reaction from the teacher, but no one bats an eye anyway.
Fran was really upset, though. I thought she was going to start crying at being chastised. I don't even think the men heard us, but if they did, I hope they realize we weren't trying to harass them (although, if they did hear us, then those big grins were very cool).
I just thought it was interesting in the insight that my high school and the attitude my community is teaching others to have towards homosexuals. My friend spent most of her life in that community. If my best friend told me she was gay I'd poke fun at her for a bit, but that would be it. It doesn't change anything, except maybe the fact that I'll meet her girlfriends rather than her boyfriends. (She actually does sleep in her closet, but that has more to do with the fact that it's either that or clean her latest project off her bed every night than anything else.)