dimanche 7 juin 2009

New Jersey's finest

So,  I went to the local bar with The Fierce People tonight, for a couple of drinks and a bit of friendly banter.

I knew it would be a strange evening when, walking into the toilets for a pre-beer wee, I came across a guy washing his dick in the sink.  Yep, it was flopped into the handbasin and he was giving it a good old once over with soap and hot water.  Lord.

Anyway, as the bar filled up, we could hear the dulcet tones of a pair of Americans above everything else in the room.  The half of The Fierce People that is American, drawn as he is to his fellow countrymen, felt that he had to investigate.

I'm so glad that I left him to it.  From a good distance of at least 3 metres/ten feet, I could hear the American tourist sprouting his opinions...

Turns out he is a gay policeman from New Jersey and is in Paris on holiday with his boyfriend - also a NJ policeman.  

I tried to ignore what he was saying, but it became increasingly difficult, mainly because of the rubbish he was talking.  Here are some examples of things I overheard...

"George W Bush is the best modern-day American President.  That's a fact"

"People in the United States hate Barack Obama and are embarrassed by him"

"Obama is a one-term president.  Palin will be the next president and she'll do a great job"

"The worst thing the republicans did was have Palin as the VP candidate.  If she'd been the presidential nominee we'd have a republican president now"

You can imagine that I really didn't want to talk to this guy.  You can imagine that our political opinions are poles apart.  Mainly because I don't understand why a gay american would vote for the GOP, the party that hates him.  But hey, each to his own.

The gay policeman walked past me on the way to the bar.  

"Hey there.  I guess you don't like what I've been saying" he said, having obviously cottoned on to the faces I was pulling as he spoke.

"It's a free country", said I.  "You can say what you like".

"But you don't agree" he said, looking for conflict.

"Of course I don't."  I said.  "But that's not the problem.  The problem is that you have a volume control issue.  You seem to think that everyone is interested in what you have to say.  You think you need to talk at such a volume that everyone can hear.  I don't care about your politics.  But I don't want to hear about it from the other side of the room".

And with that, he apologised.  He told me how he had trouble controlling his volume and that his superiors in "the force" had spoken to him about it on many occasions.

I asked him how he reconciled being gay with being a Republican.

He said simply that he never wanted to get married, never wanted to adopt, so GOP policy never bothered him.

I asked him why he supported people who clearly hated him.  He had no answer.  

"My family has always been Republican" was the best he could give me.

And with that, I decided it was time to leave.

God bless America....

20 commentaires:

savannah a dit…

sweet lord, but y'all have more composure and restraint than i'll evah have, sugar! xoxox

A Lewis a dit…

Holy mother of pearl.....I'd have gone back to the dude washing out his dick in the restroom. It sounds far more entertaining. As for Sarah Palin? Um, no thanks.

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Hey Savannah - it took a lot of restrain, trust me. I felt my restraint leaving, so I knew it was time for me to leave....he he

Lewis, some people should just stay at home....

laurie a dit…

it's guys like that who give gay policemen from new jersey a bad name.

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Laurie, they give all Americans a bad name unfortunately.

But hey, at least most of us know that not all Americans are like that ;-)

Tony a dit…

I would be perturbed by their accent rather than what they were saying

travelling, but not in love a dit…

LaTanya, those girls were just LOUD. L.O.U.D.

alan a dit…

politics and religion should never be discussed in nightclubs.

Ever.

The Mutant a dit…

You get the same thing over here with "my family has always voted Labour/Liberal/National" and with "my family has always barracked for Collingwood/Carlton/Saint Kilda" etc.

Independent thought is a rarity. Oh and I'm not immune. I'm a Holden fan because it's 'genetic'.

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Alan, I agree. Why would anyone start with that as an opening subject?

Mootant - everyone likes to belong, I guess. the problem is what they choose to belong to....

Brett a dit…

You do meet the strangest people

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Brett, I do indeed. Or do they meet me? It's quite a question...

cb a dit…

Oh God. Please tell me that I wasn't that bad when I was there!!!

I will say that by about wednesday of my trip I was heading Americans and detesting them.

You can back me up on that!

travelling, but not in love a dit…

CB - it's true, there comes a point where we are all shocked and stunned by our fellow countrymen overseas - as a Brit I have many tales to tell about how ashamed I am of Brit behaviour abroad...you can imagine....

Anyway, you were lovely. Nothing like this guy. he was awful. AWFUL. And if you thought there were lots of Americans in Paris a couple of weeks ago, well there are twice as many now, it seems...

Daryl a dit…

Makes me wonder if he's come out to his solidly GOP family .. of course now Cheney is supporting the lesbian daughter his policies shat upon for far longer than the 8yrs he was President, er, Vice President ...

Yeah, I hope Palin does run again because now she has even more dirty linen to hang out ..

aims a dit…

Hey - just because 'family' does it.....sigh.

That's why he's in a job where he has to do what he is told. He obviously can't think for himself - has to follow given 'rules'.

His opinions were ...... sweetness - I don't even have a word for them.

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Daryl, this guy was horrible - and badly dressed. Is there a law that says republicans have to be dressed by their blind mothers?

Aims, he was definitely a 'follower'...no leadership skills there sweetie...

Greg a dit…

An to think the NJ police give him a gun....

Anonyme a dit…

washing it in the sink? You hang out in the weirdest places.

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Greg, can you imagine? craziness

12oti - it's not so much that I hang out at the weirdest places, it's more that unusual things hang out at the places I go to....penises, for example