el crispito

I feel your pain, I have two jobs and am still dead broke :( it sucks EVERYWHERE

It doesn't suck in Olney, the Utopian Paradise.

Woohoo!

(No offense.)

[crispy says: None taken. I am really glad you enjoy it so there. I've read the letters to the editor and some of the editorial columns in the newspaper there though, and I think we'd find the climate in southern Illinois a little less, well, hospitable. Although, to be fair, I must point out that the publication itself has more inclusive policies.]

...white squirrels give me hives.

I can understand the appearance. I experienced a lot of trepidation when I dressed as a punk. (I'd like to think I still am one the inside.) That was a life that was more obvious outwardly than homosexuality. Aside from some funny looks, which were, of course, appreciated, most everyone was really cool.

There is a decent-size, obvious homosexual community here. No one seems to care. People can disagree intellectually (or not so intellectually!) without being disagreeable.

Ugh. What a trite saying.

I was surprised to see our policy stated thusly.

Turns out, it is incorrect:

All (including Lincoln),

Let me make this perfectly clear.

As long as I am your Regional Manager and until I receive a direct order to the contrary from my superior, I forbid any of you to publish gay or lesbian engagement, wedding or anniversary announcements.

That's correct! Forbidden! Forbidden! Forbidden!

[crispy says: I stand corrected, but I feel it reinforces my earlier statement.]

I can certainly understand that. Depends on what you mean by hospitable. If you mean you will probably never catch hell and most people would be friendly, than it would be hospitable. If you mean freedom from reading people's opinions on moral issues, than it would not be.

... gay white squirrels turn me on.

Certainly, although it depends on the meaning of hospitable. If you mean you can live in peace with near certainty no one will ever give you hell, it would probably be hospitable. If you mean the freedom to read the paper without people expressing their viewpoints on morality, than it wouldn't be.

Yikes! I thought my first comment disappeared into cyberspace.

Yes, but the majority's delusions of moral superiority are just what makes life inhospitable for the minority. It doesn't matter if those delusions are backed up by religion, tradition, or perceptions of "common sense." The end result is an unwelcoming environment for people who are different. Southern Illinois is not a welcoming place for gay people.

Sure it is.

It's welcoming for alcoholics, and the moral majority casts judgment on them as well.

You'll feel as welcome as you ought where ere you go.

No offense.

Seems like the issue comes down to not one of being welcoming as much as "do 60-percent plus agree with me."

Again ... no offense.

There's a slight, slight (slight) chance I have a buzz.

Final braindrizzle of the night: It's not especially welcoming for iconoclasts either, but life is suffering.

There are kindred souls wherever one sojourns.

I don't recall anyone chasing after you two with torches and pitchforks, but I well could have missed it.

Being a homosexual in Southern Illinois in 2008 beats being black anytime and anytime in Amerikan history until 1970. (Said the middle-age, fat, white, bald guy.)

I have met many gay people from southern Illinois. The operative words is from. I met them in places like Boston, Los Angeles, Toronto, Seattle, etc. They all agreed that life is untenable for gays in southern lllinois. You feel differently; however as a straight, WASP man you might not really be in a position to understand their point of view. Places that don't welcome iconoclasts don't welcome gays. There is a strong correlation.

Untenable? I'm telling you, there are a bunch of them (naturally, as anywhere) living quite openly. They aren't harassed, bothered, or beaten. What welcome shall they be given? They're here, living freely!

I sometimes don't feel "welcome" as an iconoclast, but naturally, I don't care. Perhaps homosexuals are just more concerned about what people think? It sure is nice of them for so many to have moved to Boston, LA, Toronto and Seattle just so homophobes feel comfortable and welcome!

I should probably add: Monical's Pizza in Olney is well known for employing a whole crew of lesbians. They even organized a female football team, I think semi-pro, that played in Evansville. The Daily Mail ran a pic of the team, most of them quite burly, posing in front of the store.

The restaurant is still full of people fresh from church every Sunday afternoon.

I am not surprised that church people have no problem with gays serving them; it doesn't upset the balance of power. My Nana Va (my Portuguese, Catholic great-grandmother) was much sought after as a dress designer for the wealthy "Proper Bostonian" elite in Beacon Hill and Back Bay. They hated immigrants and Catholics and would often say so right in front of her, but they were MORE than happy to have her make dresses for them. As long as minorities don't forget their place the majority has no problem.

Except there is no "balance of power" between the bumpkin faithful and those "serving them." This ain't the East Coast. It's bumpkins serving bumpkins and no one give a rats' ass who screws what.

The only people worrying about people's sexuality in this case, apparently, are the queers and "authors" of lone letters to the editorb.

When I say "bumpkins serving bumpkins," that is to say there's no class warfare involved. When the pizza folk get off work, they patronize businesses where their previous customer serve them instead.

Sorry, Mark, but as a former waiter I can say clearly there is a balance of power. Serving is serving. It doesn't matter if the waiters are of the same class as the people they are serving. We were middle class college students serving middle class college educated adults, but they were in a superior position as they were the paying customers.

Assuming you are precisely correct, then what is the paradigm when the Pizza Folk get off work and patronize the businesses of their previous customers? Or when the night pizza crew patronizes the businesses of the Sunday customers on a week day?

You stated that you were not surprised the Church People have no problem with gays serving them. Turns out they have no problem serving them in return. (Course, everybody's money is the same color.)

This is what I meant by bumpkins serving bumpkins. In a small town, one hand washes the farmer.

Oll Korrect, that was so heavily colloquial that it lost its educational prowess.

Yay! I win!