Oh, Supermarket Sweep...?
Ok, so from being nationally known as 'friends' to watching a video of themselves 41 years later, there's a lot of terrain these two men have covered. From the shame of being considered 'gay' to the moment they realize people see them as totally cool, there's a moment for pause. And they took it.
You see, men from other generations (and that includes me, because I feel there's a generation gap between me and the TikTok lovers) sometimes keep the kinks and quirks of THAT generation. I'll give you an example: when I was attending WVU, I had a fling with a music major (duh) and he had a mentor we used to visit. Well, this mentor was an old school musician who knew TONS about musicals and musical theater and music in general. The man was a walking, talking music encyclopedia. One thing he was not versed on was on being out of the closet.
He was in his seventies (which seemed very old to me then!) and was very obviously gay. He would talk about his 'friend' (that friend was in many photos with him around the house) and about the fact that they lived together only for a short time (the 'friend' left after some years). And there was never a word about the fact that my ex and I obviously slept together in his one-bedroom apartment or that we only drove one car.
The thing that stayed with me was that during one of our last visits (that boyfriend and I broke up. He left me to have an affair with an engineering student) he kind of lowered his voice and told us to always keep our 'role playing' kind of on the down low. It was not 'prudent' to 'flaunt' our 'friendship'.
This was the year 2000, btw.
How things change.
XOXO
Big says,
ReplyDeleteThose two are the sweetest things!!! Oh, my... Keeping things on the DL, even if it was rather obvious, was required if one wanted to say, keep one's job, remain in the rented home (apt), not be physically attacked. Unless, of course, you could live and work somewhere like SF, or NYC, or Hollywood. Things have indeed changed.
XOXO
HuntleyBiGuy:
ReplyDelete🥹 What an adorable video! They are truly one happy couple. Unfortunately with thing 47, everything is now up in the air for so many communities, especially LBGTQ+. I think it’s going to be a very tumultuous four years.
XOXO 👨🏼❤️💋👨🏽
Every generation bears the unique marks of their own particular traumas. This is simply what life has taught them, even if our lives have taught us otherwise.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine me keeping anything on the down low? Unless it's me being greedy and keeping prime grade A South American dick to myself so the other single girls don't muscle in.
ReplyDeleteI was never " in" or on the down low and can't imagine. But I've had many older friends regale their life stories with me. We are usually in awe of each other's stories.
What a cool story and a common experience for those of that generation. We were always having to repackage ourselves, altering our story, because to be found out was to admit something we struggled to accept ourselves. So how could we expect others to understand something we were also struggling to understand? It took a lot of courage and a certain geographical proximity in order to be out in those days. Those of us who struggled, we sort of resented those who were out and proud and loud... it came from a place of fear. I really didn't come out until I felt a degree of wellness, a degree of safety. I also think that life had simply worn down that ever-smiling facade that I wore like armor when I was in High School. By the time I left college the first time, my relationship with life had become something rather painful. The barbarians were at the gates and all my resistance had simply been ground down to a brittle resolve. With the AIDs crisis thrown into the mix... gays were cast as future corpses, ghouls and ghosts, the harbingers of illness. And who wanted to be associated with that? The brave ones of course - and it was due to their courage that by the late 90s that perception changed and a stop-gap in the form of pharma therapies came into play. The 'haties' were miserable and most of the 90s not much better... I think that's why I treasure and enjoy glimpses of the Halycon days of disco and the 70s. I didn't live it... but what a marvelous time to be gay. That it would take some 20 years to pass before we felt that way again? Well, looking back, of course, I wish I'd been one of the brave ones... even if it meant death in one form or another. That's why we should never be beholden to others. The fear of losing them... it keeps us from being our genuine selves. And what is life if not lived with authenticity?
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