Dillies

When I was in college I had two gay friends named Jim and Andy.  But we weren't always friends.

My sophomore year Andy was friends with a bunch of girls in my suite.  He and I HATED each other.  He was an uptight prick with a militant liberal agenda.  Remember that I was a Republican.

I spent second semester that year at another university and when I came back to school in the fall he had pierced both ears, died his hair platinum and regularly wore drag to campus events.  He was significantly less uptight.

The first time I met Jim was at a University Men's Club meeting.  It was also a Militant Liberal group made up of mostly gay men who wanted to get together and talk about their anti-women sentiment in an effort to promote feminism.  The fliers clearly specified, "NO WOMEN ALLOWED."  This seemed hilarious to me so I went.  I was the only woman there.  We spent the first 60 minutes of the meeting discussing whether or not I should be allowed to stay.  Half of them thought I should be made to leave because I was female, the other half thought I should be allowed to stay because I was female.

Finally, Jim interrupted the discussion. (He was well aware of my political leanings.)  "Listen," he said. "You can't kick her out because she's FEMALE.  But you CAN kick her out because she's EVIL."

That actually made perfect sense to me and, once I'd stopped laughing hysterically, I left.  Jim and I were pretty much best friends after that - since we were the only two people in the room who understood that my staying, or not, had nothing to do with my genitalia and everything to do with how committed I was to their cause.

Anyway, Jim and Andy and I became inseparable - even on Sunday nights which was a big night for gay clubbing in Boston.  I would go out with them and after a time even the drag queens were nice. (They're not typically very female-friendly.)

Some nights we would leave the bar with a 4th or a 5th person in the car.  Jim hooked up regularly with a boy named Chris whom we lovingly referred to as Chris-Incontinent-Chris because he ALWAYS peed in Jim's bed.  I don't know about gay culture but the first incident of bed peeing would probably have done it for me.

Sometimes, if neither of them met someone at the bar we would leave at 2am and drive over to an outdoor area known for 'cruising' by gay men.  I would usually fall asleep in the backseat, parked on the side of the road while they wandered into the bushes.  Good times.

Junior year the 3 of us lived together and sometimes on Sunday mornings I would come out of my room to find a strange man in the living room.  I always knew that he'd been picked up in some random outdoor place and my favorite pasttime was to say, "So how did you two meet?" just to see the horror on his face and watch him stammer until Jim would yell from the other room, "SHUT UP! You know how we met."  At which point I would collapse in laughter and then make breakfast.

They taught me about the Sidewalk Sale - that CRUSH of DESPERATE people who pour out of the bar after last call - who are suddenly on bargain basement clearance now that they're faced with the prospect of going home alone.

It's funny now to think about how anti-gay I was when I got to college and how wrapped up in gay culture I was by the end of 4 years.  It's interesting how your perspective on things changes when you have a chance to see them up close.

When I told my 89 year old Catholic grandmother that I was living with two gay guys I thought she would be horrified.  She looked at me strangely and asked, "You mean they're dillies?"

I had never heard the word before but knew that she got it.

"Yes." I told her.

She shrugged.  I guess after 89 years you realize that you have better things to do with your time than worry about what other people are doing.

Comments

[Cort (Modern Super Momma)]

Grandparents keep those curve balls until you least expect them!

[buzzvibe]

You're grandmother sounds awesome! My friends and I would go to gay clubs when we wanted to dance since those clubs usually played the best music, and we didn't have to deal with the meat-market mentality of desperate horny guys hitting on us.

[D H-Arza]

College is a great time!!! The world opens up and it is an awesome...

P.S.
Your grandmother is awesome!

[Seashell]

How funny! I had a similar experience with my grandparents. They came to take me to dinner right after I moved into my first apartment at college. I had discovered that morning that one of the tenants was a prostitute who worked out of the building. I was horrified! At dinner, I shared my discovery with my grandparents. My grandfather just kept right on eating and my grandmother paused long enough to say "well, it takes all types". That evening, I learned a LOT from their wisdom.

[andygirl]

you know, when you tell these awesome college stories, I just picture your avatar on a college student's body. it's very surreal.

[Downloadable08]

When I was a senior at a very conservative Christian college, someone recommended a karaoke bar to me, and a friend and I went on a non-karaoke night to check it out and see if we liked the atmosphere. The waitress brought us our drinks and asked us if we were staying for the show.

You know, the DISNEY-THEMED DRAG SHOW. As my friend said as we left, "I've never had so much fun having my childhood destroyed!"

[Michael]

Good for her. Grandma has something to teach all of us.

[Thedailyuplift]

I must say I've never met a gay man I did't like.
Plus as proud mama of an openly gay son I can say it with even greater conviction. Side walk sale? I'm so going to use that line. Great story!

[Paxochka]

I've always leaned towards gay men. Turns out my highschool best friend was gay and just waiting to come out too. I guess I was born a classic faghag. Even drag queens loved me. I never knew they were that anti-female until you mentioned it just now :)