Hi, Everybody!
Last night for the first time in my life I danced with a guy. There was a big crowd of us in a pub, and one of the lads was into dancing. When he asked me, I hesitated. I assured him I wasn't much of a dancer. (And when I say I'm not much of a dancer, I'm actually flattering myself. I'm not really quite that good.)
But he didn't care. And I thought, "Well, he's danced with all the other girls. Why not me?" I can say, too, that there was one of them who was easily a worse dancer than me, hard as that might be to imagine. So I got up and danced with him and it was great fun. I have no doubt I'll do it again if I ever get asked again—which, after last night's effort, might be a while.
Last night was our LGBT group's annual Christmas dinner. A great occasion and a scrumptious dinner (yes, scrumptious) to start off with. The organizers expressed amazement and gratitude at the turnout. There were 35 of us or so. You need to realize that we're talking about small-town and rural Ireland where we rainbow people are few and far between, so to get so many of us together was something that the organizers wouldn't have imagined possible a few years ago.
Various thoughts occurred to me during the course of the dinner. (1) If some outsider had wandered into the restaurant looking for a meal and was turned away because it was a private party, he wouldn't have noticed anything untoward. A lot of people think we rainbow people are freaks. Ha! We're as normal and normal-looking as "normal" people, and if they think we can be immediately identified, they're very badly mistaken.
(2) At gatherings like this, where so many people (male or female) are making an effort to "do themselves up", it's really nice to be a woman (or a man of course, if that's your persuasion). It's always nice to be yourself, but it's especially nice on special occasions. It makes you feel so special.
(3) There were a few old boys there—and I mean really old. I got to wondering what it would have been like to be gay in Catholic Ireland when they were young. But then I told myself, "You don't necessarily know." Because there was one man there in whose house I attended a fairly large party a few months ago. Somebody in the know there told me that his house had always been on the map—because in his day he'd played host to politicians, priests, bishops, etc. We rainbow people are eternal and ubiquitous, and we will seek out and find each other.
After dinner we all decamped to the pub across the street, and as I said there was some dancing to the music played by a two-person band. The band announced that our group was having our Christmas party. They welcomed us and dedicated a song to us. It shows how we're increasingly gaining acceptance in mainstream society.
We also noted that, rather than all gathering together in a corner, we spread out in small groups around this big, rambling pub. In other words, we fairly well took the place over. At that point we probably outnumbered the other clientele. Rainbow power!
There was also a funny (to me) incident. One of my T-girl friends is out relatively recently, and although rapidly gaining in confidence, she still has her little insecurities. (Do we ever get over them completely?) She flew into a panic because she recognized a guy at the bar and was terrified he'd recognize her.
When I got the story from her about this guy, I started laughing. He was a guy she'd known 15 years ago at college. There was no way in the world he was going to recognize her. "Relax," I told her. People don't make those connections. We do because it's our lives. But they don't. I went on to tell her a couple of my stories about people I'd known well for years who didn't recognize me the first time they saw me after I came out.
So there it is. A brilliant night out. (And to top it off, I was in the supermarket this morning doing my weekly shopping. As the checkout woman was finishing up with me, there was a fellow behind me who was looking for something or other, and he was being fairly rude and pushy about it. She was clearly annoyed with him because she told him, "Can you hold on for just a minute? Let me finish sorting this lady first."
I was so tempted to round on him and say, "Yeah! What kind of gentleman are you? Let her finish sorting this lady first!")
At any rate, I noted this morning that I only gained two pounds last night. I didn't think that was too bad. But when I start putting on the pounds, I regard that as the official opening of the festive season. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all! I hope everyone will have as much fun throughout as I had last night.
Best wishes,
Foxglove
Nice night, thanks for sharing.
Awwwww! sounds like you had a GREAT night :D Merry Christmas babe, hugs.
Merry Christmas
Happy Holidays to you All !
Merry Christmas everyone! I have never really liked this holiday, but this is a new beginning for me and I am now looking at the world and all my relationships through a new set of 'lenses'! I am happier than I have ever been and plan to approach every step of my path positively, more compassionately and with a renewed energy. I am more than excited!
Just so you all know... ;D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzM-n04qLlQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJZj5HlW1Ac