You know those bad decisions
\nThe ones you knew, you knew were bad
\nBut something in you, some inspired genius said, \u201cI\u2019m going to ignore all that intuition, common sense and life lessons and just throw caution to the wind\u201d
\nDumb fuck<\/p>\n
You see, I know he fits the profile: male, wearing shabby clothes, smelling like stale booze, riding the bus looking like he is on the tail end of a hard knock life. Looking like he wants nothing better then to turn around and pass on the beat down.
\nBut these are classist assumptions
\nAnd assumptions are keeping me down, hemming me in
\nAnd it\u2019s been 12 years
\nIt\u2019s time to peel off the callouses from those years transitioning in the spotlight of unsolicited public opinion
\nIt\u2019s time to open myself up to the strange, beautiful, teeming sea of humanity lapping at my feet
\nTapping my shoulder
\n[MIME TAKING OFF HEADPHONES] \u201cYes?\u201d
\n\u201cHi\u201d
\n\u201cHi\u201d
\n\u201cMy name is _______________.\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d
\n\u201cJessica\u201d
\nCue inane conversation about riding the bus, how our days are going, the Seattle weather
\nThen, at some point, comes the pause
\nAnd a one, and a two, and a\u2026
\n\u201cCan I ask you a personal question?\u201d
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\nShort pause, as he processing the fact I did not say my line
\nBecause you know, that last question was not, is never really a question, but rather, a declaration of intent
\nI know what it is, this \u201cpersonal question\u201d
\nThere is only one, and here it comes:
\n\u201cAre you a woman or a man\u201d
\nAs if my tastefully, oh so slightly revealed breasts
\nAnd my form fitting Athleta dress (on clearance $39.95)
\nWere not enough of an answer
\nBut it\u2019s not enough
\nIt\u2019s never enough
\nBecause this too is not a question
\nIt\u2019s an accusation
\nAn unmasking
\nExposing me for the fraud I really am
\nWell I have news for you my little Sherlock
\nI am more fraud then you will ever know
\nBecause while I sit here calmly
\nLooking to all the world like a well-adjusted person
\nA healthy and productive member of the human race
\nInside I\u2019m reaching over and sawing through your neck with a rusted, serrated blade, severing that ugly waste of space you call a head
\nHolding it by the hair, blood gushing all over the bus, screaming passengers running to pile up at the doors, it\u2019s madness<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t ask to look like this
\nI didn\u2019t aspire to sound like this
\nI don\u2019t want to carry around the scars of puberty for the rest of my life
\nAnd it makes me angry when it\u2019s rubbed in my face
\nBut not that angry
\nI don\u2019t really want to cut your head off
\nBecause even now, fuming, reeling from a conversation turned sucker punch
\nEven now I know
\nAt some point you were a beautiful newborn child
\nCome into this world without bias or scorn
\nAnd then you watched the same TV and movies as me
\nAnd saw that there was such a thing as men who dress up like women, and try to pass themselves off as woman, and that these men were hilarious and pathetic and maybe a little bit dangerous because they could trick you, seduce you, and next thing you know you, my friend, are a faggot
\nAnd then you went to the same schools as me
\nWhere the worst thing you could be called, by your friends, enemies and football coach alike, was a pussy
\nAnd every day, boys and girls lined up separately, with a wall of space in between, and anyone who dared to reach out across this wall was laughed at and beaten and lost their place
\nJust like that
\nAnd the men in your life, they taught you how to be a man through ridicule, intimidation, and scorn
\nAnd you learned that this is what it takes to be a real man, and to be a real man was the best thing you could be, and the worse thing you could be was a womanly man
\nI understand
\nYou\u2019re a man and that\u2019s all you\u2019ve ever been
\nAll you ever could be
\nBecause the world is divided into two lines
\nMen and women
\nAnd there\u2019s nothing in-between
\nJust a wall of space
\nAnd no one\u2019s allowed to \u00a0reach across
\nNo one\u2019s allowed to switch lines
\nNot even me<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You know those bad decisions The ones you knew, you knew were bad But something in you, some inspired genius said, \u201cI\u2019m going to ignore all that intuition, common sense and life lessons and just throw caution to the wind\u201d Dumb fuck You see, I know he fits the profile: male, wearing shabby clothes, smelling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions\/165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freaksoftechnology.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}