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An Affair with Joe Rigoletto

A few months after my night at the Web, here I am again.  Finding myself back into a familiar place where boys, gals and gays alike will be rubbing elbows to get in and be able to show their best shot in the dance floor.  It was just me and Edwin; no presence or shadow of Miss B this time.  We did not get off at the usual 5th Avenue and 59th Street station but at 59th Street and Lexington as we were supposed to meet up with another gay friend, Danny, who lives by Upper East side and was supposed to take the downtown 6 train to get to this station.  As soon as we got out we stopped at the nearby wall of Bloomingdales so Edwin can text Danny letting him know we are at the meeting place at the meeting time of 11pm.   We waited for another 15 minutes with no visible presence of Danny.  Tired of calling and sending text messages Edwin said “This queen is ignoring my calls and text message so let us not waste anymore time waiting for him.  He is probably in the arms of another man.”  Since we are in unison that Danny did not even have the decency to let us know that he will not be able to meet us we have furiously decided that we will leave the place at once and head to the bar.  As we were walking along 58th Street Edwin and I were discussing at our displeasure with how Danny stood us up and never even bother to call us or answer Edwin’s call and messages.  “This will be the last time that we will invite Danny.  He is a liar and cannot be counted on when it comes to promises” I said to Edwin.  He agreed with me saying “It was very clear when I spoke to him earlier that he is coming and he was the one who changed the meeting place to 59th and Lex.”  “We really can’t rely on him” he added.  Before we headed to the bar I decided to stop at the Citibank branch at 57th Street and Park Avenue to withdraw money, “I need cash for the drinks and few dollars for the go-go boys in case I see somebody that I like” I said jokingly.  Few clicks on the ATM machine and off we go to another block for the bar.  We both agreed that it was better Danny was not there because we don’t have to force ourselves to listen to Danny’s stories of “I, Me and Myself” or in short, all about him being the best, the greatest and the most attractive gay guy on the planet Earth.

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Tounge Twisters: Keys or Kiss and Teeth or Tit

How many of us who came from a foreign country or whose mother tongue is a language other than English ends up in a situation where English speaking persons asked you what you said?  Or worse, asked you to repeat what you just said?  Doesn’t it feel insulting that after repeating what you said, still, the person you are talking to gives you a blank face like he has no freaking clue what you just said and repeated a few times?

How many times did you feel ashamed or enraged and your face was all red or your ears were hot as hell after being being told that one did not understand what you said?  Well, I have been in numerous situations when I was new here in the US where my pronunciation of words have been compromised.  It used to hurt my feelings when somebody tells me that he or she did not understand what I said.  One time, one of my ex-boyfriend Kenny’s nephews told him “Uncle Kenny, I did not understand what Eric said.  Can you ask him?”, while I stood right in front.  It was kind of embarrassing to me though I have to hide my disgust and still keep my hypocritical smile.  Another one was when I went to Jersey Gardens to shop with my friend Maricar.  When I asked the customer service in the middle of the floor for shopping bags the lady pointed to me the ATM machine under the escalator saying “There is no bank here inside the mall.”  So I have to come back to her and say I am asking for shopping bags (which I pronounced as “begs”), and this time she understood and asked me “How many do you want?” with a smile. Geesh!

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My night at the Web…their night at the station!

My move from Jamaica, Queens to Astoria was courtesy of Edine, a friend I met years ago and has been my constant companion whenever she is off from her busy schedules working during and after office hours.  She is an administrative assistant by day and a nanny by dark till late evening or until she is relieved from her duty by the family she works for.  Her full name is Edine Bocalan or as everyone fondly calls her Miss B.  She is Edwin’s room mate in the three-bedroom apartment turned into a four-bedroom one due to the wall they mounted that separated the extra room from the living room, which they share with two other tenants, located along Broadway by 42nd Street.  Edwin, on the other hand, has been my friend for quite a long time that dated back to our days in the SGV/Arthur Andersen office in Manila years ago where we both worked as auditors.

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