Old friend, renewed perspective
I got to see morrigan1212 today, and it was absolutely amazing, though quite brief. After meeting up with him at Reagan, we just sat tight on the metro to DuPont, my favorite, and stopped by my usual visitor stop, Thai Chef on Connecticut, after getting monetarily frisked by a Save the Children canvasser (I would give, but my funds are REALLY TIGHT right now). Lunch seemed like a nice venue just to talk and relate again. The whole experience was just quite surreal - nearly 7 years without seeing each other - I just was so blown away how we reconnected again, and it made me really miss the Midwest. Progressively minded East Coasters I’ve noticed are really quick to dismiss the Midwest as a super conservative place where everyone is a God-fearing, card caring member of the religious right, and vote Republican like it’s nobody’s business. And to some degree, the Midwest is a conservative place, but it doesn’t mean that EVERYONE thinks that way, and not everyone is a Sarah Palin type. Though the county where I grew up did go Red (apparently, 2nd to Waukasha county, nice try Ozaukee), I did grow up in a fairly progressive, Jewish neighborhood in the area, and the concern when I was growing up was the kindness of the community. Granted, I didn’t completely experience being queer in Wisconsin, as I really didn’t have as much of an awakening until I moved to Columbus, but overall, I’d say that I’d had a decent upbringing there. I do struggle with this concept as I know that I wasn’t treated well by my peers or stuck up for by my teachers in school, when I would get harassed and alienated, but in many ways, I’m just indifferent to it now - they just couldn’t understand someone who was in a queer body. Who knows.