I hadn't noticed that straight women were mutes.

[tzikeh]

Warning - there are generalizations about types of people ahead. I make no apologies for them -- they're generalizations. I'm sure you know women who are just like this woman and don't think like her at all. So do I. I'm just speaking in grossly simplistic terms for the sake of the story.

I took a mental health day yesterday, which means I didn't go into work, thereby avoiding any and all Web Experts. I got a bunch of stuff shipped off in the mail, bought workout pants that double as comfy, hang-around pants, and chatted with friends online.

I did have to talk to one person at work - a producer I had to finalize some deadlines with. I called her up, we set up some dates, and then we made a little small talk.

I've known this woman to say hello to for two years, but we've never been in any kind of real discussion other than work-related. She's a particular type - very thin - almost bony, coiffed, blonde, gets her nails done once a week at a salon. Anyway, I guess not being face-to-face with me emboldened her or something, and she said "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

"Are you gay?"

Now, I work at a public tv station and classical radio station. It's an odd mix; we have the arts types who write and host and create and direct and build and so forth, and in that group are many gays, lesbians, blacks, Hispanics, yadda yadda yadda. Then we have the salespeople, the Executives, and producers, who are women like this woman and the men who partner up with her in the "sets of stereotypical people" pairings. I have noticed that this second type (let's call them, oh, mundanes, for the sake of this post) are sometimes curious as to what it is we creative types do in our spare time - very curious. They often gossip, somewhat loudly, in the halls, as to who is gay or not, or who is into something weird, or what-have-you. Maybe I'm just not privy to it, but I never hear the creatives talking about whether or not any of the 'danes is gay. But I digress.

Anyway, I said, "No, I'm not - what made you ask?"

And she said "Well, you know. You're... you're... well, you have such a strong work ethic, and you speak up. I mean, you really spoke up at that meeting last month!"

{sigh}

So, apparently, there's a lesbian work ethic. This, I was unaware of.

There's so much wrong with her thought pattern here that there was really no point in trying to help her out. Plus? Mental Health Day. So I just said, "Oh."

But I regret that I did not have the wherewithal to use this line when she asked if I were gay, which is my favorite line from the movie Chaplin. When Charlie Chaplin is asked by a prejudiced git if he's Jewish, he says "No. Unfortunately, I do not have that honor."

I gotta remember that one.

Comments

[amilyn.livejournal.com]

And she said "Well, you know. You're... you're... well, you have such a strong work ethic, and you speak up. I mean, you really spoke up at that meeting last month!"

So...it's having opinions and being unable not to share them and argue about why they're most applicable to a situation in absence of evidence to the contrary....that's what makes me a lesbian, huh?

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Yup.