Pride Setup and Dance

"Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday" was the line in the email I sent when I assigned people to do Saturday morning setup for Pride. I actually had a great crew of volunteers come and I was excited to get Pride started.

One volunteer kept hitting on me: an older gentleman that looked like he worked hard labor all his life. He was nice, but I really did not like the looks he gave me or the flirting. He once tried to put some keys in my pocket, but I stopped him and said, "I'll take these." Part of me wanted to flat out tell him to stop, but the better side of me won and I was very gracious to him.

There was one volunteer that rode in my car when we had to pick up some things from the GLBT Center. Besides being really hot, he's a nice guy that I found very interesting. He went on a mission and learned Spanish, only coming out to everyone in his family about 3 years ago. He looked like he was 24ish, but I learned he was 30 years old. He was previously in a 4-year relationship, but ended it and actually still lives with the guy and considers him a close friend. I thought it was really cool that after being in a relationship for so long, he could still be close to him.

Megan got a little mad at me when I didn't do something her way (which turned out to be the right way). Actually, she got really mad and stormed off. I was annoyed that she didn't show me why she was right; she just told me. I've a visual person and need people to show me why I'm wrong before I believe them.

The Pride dance is one of my most favorite things about Pride weekend, but unfortunately it rained tonight. At most there were 100 people that danced in the cold rain. While most volunteers and staff wore jackets, I stayed in my pink staff shirt because it made me stand out. I wanted to make sure volunteers could find me.

At about 8:30, I was sick of the dance and wanted to end it. Actually, Megan had the idea and I went to ask Sherry (the person in charge) if this was okay. After some hesitation, she agreed (along with the other pride coordinators) and it ended. I was elated and jumped for joy as I ran back to tell Megan. When the dance ended at 9:15 (instead of 10pm), Megan, Jere, and I got on bull horns and told people to leave. Megan and I started telling each other jokes and some people laughed at us. It was really fun.

After we cleaned up, Megan and I went to Applebee's because we were starving. I was craving chips and salsa (when am I not??) and knew that they were open late. When it came time to order our food, Megan pointed to a picture and said, "I want that." I pointed to another picture and said, "And I want that." It was really funny to order using a picture--I felt like I was a kid.

Teena Marie, Megan, and I in the rain