The Fetal Diaries: Entry #1 “Sneak peek of the other side”.
* I’ve decided to use Warona’s suggestion for my blog titles - thanks for the suggestion by the way : ) I’ll be numbering them too lol. Here’s number one of the Fetal Diaries.
December 16, 2007
3:41 PM
Just woke up from taking a nap. I am so tired. Worked 5 am till 2 pm, and lots of bread came in today and we already have enough back stock.. Blah. So annoying. But whatever. I’m glad I’m finally home.
Anyways… let’s get to the thinking part of this blog.
I work at a supermarket bakery as most of you already know. There are other departments, of course, like produce and grocery, etc. and I know quite a few of them out there. Lots of different kinds of people. The bakery, I think, is the most ethnically diverse. Quite glad about that, by the way. Anyways, some of them never left Canada. I’m not saying they’re ignorant or anything, but sometimes, I feel like I’ve seen more and accept more things that those that haven’t really gone out there and looked at the world how us TCKs have.
I work with a mother and daughter pair on the floor to stock up shelves and tables. The rest of the people work INSIDE the bakery to bake. There’s this person I know through them. Let’s call him A.
M and C are absolutely fun. I mean, sure, I do lose my temper at them secretly sometimes, but there are reasons and hey, I still like them. They’re pretty awesome. We have a lot of fun, for sure. But I do hear M’s opinions about things a lot, as she prefers to ‘tell it like it is and not lie’. We’re all somewhat friends with A; however, M and C are closer to him, or at least, it seems like - I don’t really know. That’s how I came to know A.
A is a homosexual, just to get it over with. I’ve had ‘gay’ friends since I was like, 7. In the Philippines, homosexuals are accepted. It’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of, and pretty much all of em are open. In the UAE, I don’t know. I mean the country’s open to anyone, although I have never seen a homosexual Muslim (and I don’t think I ever will meet one). In Canada, I’ve seen that there are more homosexuals in the smaller towns (like where I am - at work alone, there are like 3 that I know of) compared to the bigger cities such as Calgary.
My opinion on homosexuals: I don’t mind them. I think they should be open to who they are, and I admire them for, you know, opening up and everything. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for who you are and tell the whole world and not care. A’s like that. Sometimes I hear him say things I would much rather not hear, but hey, that’s him and I guess I just have to deal right?
I hear a lot of talk about him in the lunchroom. More on him than the other homosexuals. I guess it’s cause he is quite a bit of a Drama Queen, and more open about his feelings (he’s more emotional than I am, sometimes - and I’m a teenager!) Some people are right away making rude comments. Some people are speechless. Some, disgusted. When I first found out, I was like, “Oh, figures why he’s like that.”
At first glance, M, C and A seem pretty tight and everything. I suppose they are, but being women (I like to think of A as a woman. I don’t mean to sound rude, but he does act like it), there’s some backtalk going on most of the time. M likes to call A nasty behind his back. C does too sometimes. A does some backtalking too, and is paranoid about things sometimes LOL. I have seen this all, cause I’m always in between. I don’t take sides. I just sit and watch like an innocent bystander. Most of my weekends involve all this kinda talk, since I work weekends..
What do I feel about it? I think it’s quite mean that M calls it nasty sometimes. Sure, A says these things I’d do without hearing, quite frankly, but I don’t really say it’s nasty. I guess that’s part of him. But nasty? Why not weird, or out of the norm? And it’s not just M that calls him this. A few others do too, and I feel bad for him. But then, I know that A kinda knows about this, and I guess that’s one of the cons of being open about it.
But I’ve noticed that the ones that have stayed here in Canada their whole lives, or the ones that haven’t met different kinds of people are the ones making the ‘OMAGAWD NASTY’ faces when they first hear. I’m not saying they’re ignorant or rude. I like to call it ‘limited range of preferences’. But really, I’ve noticed this a lot of times. There are a few people that have been here their whole lives but are totally open to all kinds of people, but most are, like I like to call it, limited.
I dunno, this observation might be wrong, but hey, that’s how I see it right? I’m only a teenager, and I see it that way, and have my own little opinions. I just wanna hear yours.
Okay rant over. Pce.
Kristine aka fetus.
Born in the Philippines, then lived in Abu Dhabi, UAE for almost 4 years. Immigrated to Calgary, Canada (one of the most, if not THE most diverse city in Canada), but lives even farther north now (where it seems to be the opposite of Calgary).
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8 Comments to “The Fetal Diaries: Entry #1 “Sneak peek of the other side”.”
December 16th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Well Kristine, here’s my opinion:
As long as they don’t go hitting on other folks of the same sex (unless the other party is in agreement) then it’s fine. But I grew up in Thailand and it’s hard to find a guy there! hahaha..k..that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but there’s alot of gays or transvestites out there. Alot of my guy friends were foreigners and would always get these thai guys flirting with them which would really piss them off.
Oh and I don’t know about the UAE, but here in Lebanon there’s plenty of gays. I think here in the Arab world there are enough of them, but because of the culture, the close family ties, etc. they tend to keep it very under wraps. But i know of a few married guys who are actually gay or would be if they could. It’s just not acceptable here in this part of the world so they feel ashamed to tell anyone.
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December 16th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Yeah, lol I’ve been to thailand and I remember being in the local outdoor stores and arguing for like ten mins with my sister whether this person was male or female. I was like 10 so I didn’t know what transvetites are but now, that must be it.
And yea, that’s what I mean by probably never meeting a homosexual arab. It’s against the religion..
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December 16th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Interesting blog! I don’t know what I think about this… i’m developing opinions… but I still don’t know what I think/feel. I go to a small Christian school, where lots of people are very narrow minded (”it says it’s wrong in the Bible… so you’re a sinner if your gay” kind of attitude.) then there are the people who are completely rebelling against that attitude, saying that anything that says it’s wrong in the Bible is ok.
It’s a tough subject, but i think: don’t be a jerk about it, and it’ll be ok.
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December 16th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Yeah, that’s my sister told me. My friend just admitted to me that she might be bisexual and hey, I’m not gonna judge her for that. I’m just gonna live my life, and not interfere with hers.
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December 16th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Interesting post, fetus! But you know, you said something that kind of surprised me.. “In the UAE, I don’t know. I mean the country’s open to anyone, although I have never seen a homosexual Muslim (and I don’t think I ever will meet one).”
Actually, in my experience, there a LOT of homosexuals in muslim countries - they may not be open about it because it’s against the law, but they are there! As far as meeting one .. you don’t need to go far, how about our own Ishrad Manji in Canada? She’s openly gay and muslim.
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December 16th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Iunno Ishrad Manji but I’ll check that out.
And, I meant that I’ll probably meet an OPEN gay person.
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December 16th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
When I lived in Jakarta, transvestites were pretty common. They were well known for getting at least part of the operation done, and then working as prostitutes. Somehow, that was a valid profession. Anyway, a few years before I left they were cleared off the streets along with the beggars and peddlers that are pretty common on any major road. I assume this was part of public policy to give a better impression for foreign investors.
But to be honest I’d rarely met an openly gay man before going to the US, and this was one of the positive things I learned there. In one case, I met a preacher who was openly bisexual. He was actually a Missionary Kid when I come to think of it (though we really didn’t get along on the case of religion), and he repatriated to the US for High School. Because of his bisexuality and aloofness, he had a hard time fitting in. He told one story about how he cross-dressed as a woman and went to school, to see if anyone noticed. They apparently didn’t. O.o
Anyway, I met more than a few openly gay people. I was there for a friend when she came out as bisexual (at the time. I think now she’s lesbian.) In fact, when I first moved to Zürich and was learning German, one of my classmates was an American who was moving to Zürich to be married to his Swiss fiancee.
I wasn’t used to it, but I got used to it and they were terrific people. So when the first openly gay person started at my college here just in October, I was surprised by the response of some of my close friends. I mean, fine, he’s probably the most effeminate gay person I’d ever met in my life, but even then I never say “Wow, look at him, he’s so f***ing gay.”
At the same time, I get bothered by the way some girls think he’s terrific and funny, because of his femininity. They don’t see why guys are put off by his behavior.
All in all, it just seems like no one is looking at it the right way. They see what they want to see.
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December 16th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
LOL, see, I don’t mind them being all open. I just wish they wouldn’t say anything gross. And I won’t go into details on that.
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