The Gay Bar-January 07

This past Christmas Break I was home in the suburbs. I went downtown and spent an evening with MBA Man and Photo Guy at their then-condo.

During dinner, MBA Man said to me that they were going out later and taking me with. Afterward, we were relaxing in the living room and he seemed content to stay in. Photo Guy was determined to go out with their other friend who’d joined us, with or without MBA Man and me.

Recalling an earlier promise I’d made to let them take me out, I agreed to go. Of course this was after about a half hour of back and forth between them and reassuring them that it was ok, I could handle whatever place they wanted to go.

I asked if I could stay the night on their sofa, since my mother had dropped me off and calling her for a ride home at 2 am buzzed seemed like a bad plan. They agreed, I called and told her I was staying over, and we were off to one of the local bars.

I’m not an experienced “bar fly” to begin with, so it was an interesting experience. Closeted man in a gay bar with gay friends…it was odd. I was out of my element. Didn’t stray too far from my friends either, as I was not about to get lost in the crowd in an unfamiliar place.

But I had a good time, even danced a little after a couple drinks.

The funniest part was the reactions the next day. My mom asked what the place was like. My sister asked if I had been hit on. Answer: No…possibly because there were 4 of us so it appeared to be two couples. I wasn’t exactly looking to get hit on either. And later that night, at a dinner with family friends, where inevitably I ended up telling the story, the 20 year old daughter told me excitedly that she’d been to this bar once on 18+ night with her then-boyfriend’s gay brother.

Certainly an evening I won’t forget.