We made another attempt recently to keep our neighborhood ethnic dining group alive. Last night, we visited a Viennese/Bavarian restaurant that we'd been to before (with a very small group). Last night, the group was smaller. Our neighborhood was represented by just one other couple from down the street. Because of we knew in advance of the poor showing, we invited a staff member to come along. She joined us, along with her domestic partner. It turned out to be one of the more enjoyable dinners we'd arranged, because the six of us were able to converse easily (despite a noisy restaurant).
After dinner, our employee and her partner went on their way and my wife and I invited our neighbors to go with us to one of our favorite ice cream shops (actually, one of the only ones we ever visit). The guy, who readily admitted to having an ice cream addiction, quickly agreed and so off we went.
It did not even occur to my wife and me until just before we left for dinner that some people might be uncomfortable with (or might make other people uncomfortable with) the fact that a gay couple was part of the group. Fortunately, either our neighbors are not among those who would be uncomfortable or they simply didn't act on their discomfort or they did not realize the two women were gay. Once I started thinking that, in this Republican stronghold of Dallas, our neighbors could be ultra-conservative on the matter, I became concerned about our employee and her partner being made uneasy. I'm glad that didn't happen, but I'm disappointed that I realized it was even a possibility. Our society desperately needs to get over its rigid standards of "morality" in so many areas.
No comments:
Post a Comment