Stories from a man who fails to meet media expectations of what it means to be gay:
white, frivolous, over sexed yet sexless, shrill, single, stylish, a clown, unimportant, et al.

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John had to get some supplies for work, so when I got home, he dragged me to Smart n Final. There was another gay couple there, also white y Latino, though younger, mid 20�s or so. We passed by each other a couple of times roaming the aisles, and from the goofy party paper plates they were stocking up on, I assumed that they were shopping for a Halloween party, a party that from the contents of their cart was going to consist of solely of candy, chips n salsa, beer, and vodka. Although we did leave the store before they did, so they might have filled out the menu a bit after we left.

Now, next to the market is a Quizno�s that even though we hadn�t discussed going to pick up some food for dinner, doing so was inevitable, since it was relatively late, neither of us had eaten yet, we were both hungry, and we ALWAYS get something form there when we shop at that particular Smart n Final. It�s just one of those things that HAS to happen, like my having to ask John if remembered to bring the tickets whenever we go to a show despite the fact that he has never forgotten to do so.

Anyway, Quiznos. We go in, order food and watch a floor show of sorts. The cashier, a 17 or 18 year old blond girl was talking to a friend, an equally young Latino guy whose fashion style was an attempt at �tight.� That is a muscle baring, too short, tight t-shirt and skinny black jeans. The jeans made his legs seem stick thin (a look lost on me since I am an admirer of thighs), though he had made a concession to the underwear bearing lowriding look, and had his pants pulled down enough to make his skinny pants all wrinkly and loose.

If I were a much bolder person, I would have told him to loose the boxers and hoist his pants up since it was making his ass look saggy and from what little I could see of it, he should have been working it as a selling point instead of hiding it. Not that I was interested in said ass mind you, aside from preferring men with a bit more meat on them, there was also the creepy most likely underage thing going on as well.

Now as to the show, after the cashier went to make the food, the kid noticed me noticing him, and as I started to do the polite thing and turn away, he stretched his arms over his head effectively showing off a tight belly (nice I guess, though utterly hairless so meh). Then he started to rub his chest in a �gosh I�ve been working out so hard� kind of way, and I did finally turn away wondering if he realized that I was old enough to be his father.

It is possible that I had imagined or misinterpreted this interaction, though I doubt it. When I turned away from the kid, John was looking at me with a �what the heck is going on� expression on his face. Further, a few minutes later, the Halloween party gay couple came in, and while the Latino guy was ordering food, the white hombre and the kid were staring at each other like starving men.

The blatant cruising between the two didn�t long, because the cashier came back with the kid�s order, and he started stretching and �accidentally� flexing for her. Which I guess explained why when she rang him up, his two soups, three large sandwiches, and a couple bags of chips was only three dollars and some change.

Now again, if I were a much bolder person I might have taken her aside, and asked if she realized that even with the free food, there was no way anything other than a coy boy show was ever going to happen between them. But again I�m not so bold, nor that pushy. Besides, there are some things in life we have to learn on our own with out the help of our elders, such as the many hazards of young gay men.

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