Thursday, January 12, 2006

Grab Yer Partner, D-si-do

I have no gaydar. Zilch. When my mentee and I were redeeming her tickets at Fun House (arcade) tonight, the man behind the counter emitted zero gaydar signals in my direction. Nerdar signals were strong, however. Mainly because of his glasses style. I asked him where Fun House was relocating in the summer. One sentence led to another and before I knew it, he was discussing the meaning of he and his partner's son's name, Wylie.

15 minutes later in the car driving back to the mentee's house:

Mentee: What's a partner?

Me: [by this time I had completely forgot about the man at Fun House] Like when you're playing cards, it would be the person on your team. Or when you are dancing, it would be the person you're dancing with.

Mentee: So the man at Fun House has a baby with his card friend?


Me: Oh...
that kind of partner. Umm...errr...well...[where is your aunt when I need her] the man is gay and his "husband" is his partner.

Mentee: Ok.


Proof there is a God #273: She didn't ask me how they had a baby together.

8 comments:

Amanda Z said...

So... where are they relocating?? :)

Rachel said...

He said if all goes well they should be close to the Riverwalk Crossing place in Jenks.

Anonymous said...

sounds absolutely fabulous!

Rachel said...

What sounds absolutely fabulous? The fact that a teeny booper arcade will be closer to you?

Anonymous said...

A gay teeny bopper arcade.

Anonymous said...

You are right. There is a GOD up there. And you were awsome with your answers. I wish I could think that quickly.

It has always puzzle me how to explain things like that to children now that our society has gone more tolerant, open and liberal, without giving out too much information.

Rachel said...

Hmm...I meant the "proof there is a God" statement as a joke. I thnk if I was really serious about the statement, I would be really stupid as the reason is not a very convincing/poor one.

As for the rest of your comment: you answer questions truthfully that are asked. Kids have a way of finding answers if you don't tell them. If she had asked me "how" they were made, I would have went through ALL of the possibilities of how they could have a baby together. I didn't want to, but I would have.

And, FYI, I think I might be part of the society that is more "tolerant...open and liberal." Because I do cling tightly to that small "thou shalt not judge" thing.

Anonymous said...

I agree. I don't think it's a big deal anyway. One, if she had asked, I'd just say they probably adopted or something. Two, she's a teenager, right? I'm sure she knows about sex, gay people, etc. When I was 13 the topic I chose for my research project was "Why Gay Couples Should be Allowed to Adopt."