This Sunday I was having coffee at a café in the Castro area
of San Francisco, reading a book called “How to Say A Few Words” by
David Guy Powers (SAFW) published in 1953. In this book, it talks about how to
capture an audience with story-telling, advertisements, political speeches,
etc. It is as outdated as much as it is contemporary. I was sitting next to a
lady and her 7 or 9 year old daughter. They were playing a French card game. It
reminded me of Old Maid or Skip-Bo but all French words. I figured it was a learning
game for the child. Across from me was two older men, I’d say in their 60’s and
I would put money that they were two gay men, but that doesn’t matter. Now you
know, I was having coffee next to two assumed gay men and a mother and her
daughter. The server was a young black girl in a French Maid outfit and a green
wig. There was a sign that said “DON’T FEED THE PIGEONS”, so instead I just
waved my hand in the air for the two pigeons to fly away, just to have them fly
back over and I’d wave them away, and they’d still come back and forth, and so
on. I would have felt better about feeding them since they seem to come back
anyway, besides I couldn’t finish my potatoes from my breakfast, they have
since gone to waste I’m sure. I began to wonder, how do I feel about couples?
I’m probably one of the few single people in the world who is perfectly fine
with couples. Why not? There is something refreshing about couples that I can’t
quite put my finger on it…actually, I can. The couple doesn’t have to be the
best pair, or the best fit for each other, but the fact that two people can
become one is inspiring and lovely. Maybe they smile every time they say each others name, maybe they don't. Maybe they are afraid it won’t work out, maybe they
are not. Maybe they are constantly questioning the relationship, maybe they are
not. Maybe one likes the other more, or maybe not. Maybe they are super excited to jump in bed, sleep and awake next to the love of their life, or maybe they aren't. There are a lot of unknowns in
a relationship, and that makes being in a relationship an adventure, just as adventurous as being single. Things may
not go as planned in life, and essentially you are on your own, but in a
relationship you have someone else with you to laugh about all those things that go "wrong" or perhaps, they are going just as they are supposed to be.
Often I laugh
with myself, then, I think “hmmm, I wonder if I would laugh this hard with a
boyfriend?” I’d like to think so. The last meal in the apartment, we don’t get
paid for another week, and “Oops, I just dropped it all on the floor…hahahahahaha…kiss
me.” “Oh no! Your Mother is visiting, we had lots of wine and I just crawled
into bed with her on accident, in my underwear?! Hahahahahaha, kiss me…and more
cream for my coffee please, Ma”. “Why on Earth would you rent a movie that has
Nicholas Cage as the main character? Hahahahaha, let’s make it a drinking
game…kiss me”. “I got these tickets to this big dance party. It has 3 dance
floors, 8 DJ’s, a photo booth, a rooftop patio, lots of people…and we haven’t been
out dancing in a while…[silence]…we can play hide and seek…SOLD!...hahahahaha,
kiss me.” So, I figure if all of those scenarios happen in my relationship,
then I will laugh just as hard with my boyfriend. And when my friend Lindsay
tried to get me a date to her wedding, which will be this spring, I wondered
“why is she trying to set me up with a date for her wedding? She knows I’m
“solo Cody”, and that’s totally fine. I figured it’s because she didn’t want me
to be laughing alone. The text conversation:
Lindsay
“The dots are gold.”
Cody
“Um. Yes. ?”
Lindsay
“I’ll grab him. Might
be our guy for you for the wedding.”
Cody
“Yeah. Grab him. Give
him my info. Fly him up to SF for the weekend.”
Lindsay
“He even comes with
instructions. Excellent house guest.”
Lindsay always has weird conversations with me. They don’t
always make sense, but we essentially speak the same language. "The dots
are gold” really means, “I have found your man, things are looking bright”.
Thanks Lu, you really know the way to my heart. I now have a date for her wedding.
I just hope he doesn’t give me a hickey. And by the end of the night, he will
be hanging around my neck. It’ll take all night, but I’ll loosen him up after a
few Destructors. I know with a date or not, I won’t be laughing alone, or
crying alone, although I may dance on my own…but only when I need to flail my
arms and kick my legs to “You Make My Dreams Come True”.
Meet my date, Bo.
