Monday, April 20, 2009



To Sir, with Love
At a singing event this past weekend, I participated in an ice breaker activity- Pick someone you don't know very well, talk to them for five minutes and summarize to the group the person's name, where they are from and one thing about them that others may not know.

In front of me, a bespectacled woman, wearing a Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt, pointed to me that she wanted to be my partner. OK easy enough. I chatted with her, "Hi I'm Liz, I live with my life partner in North Park, I grew up in NJ." I desperately searched in my head for one unusual thing about me. I thought, "What to pick out of such slim pickin's? " I lobbed out a soundbite "One unusual thing about me is that I guess you could call me a francophile. I studied in France and once did an internship there."

My partner's response was slightly different from mine. "Hi, I'm Hannah born and raised here in the county. I'm big into the leather community and I moderate a discussion group for people 18-35 who are into kinky sex. I have a girlfriend and a Sir (female) that I service."

I listened, not really knowing how to reply. I wasn't really shocked, just trying to figure out how to relate with her. After a pause I said, "A Sir? You mean like Marcie with Peppermint Patty?"

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