{"id":11835,"date":"2016-09-06T04:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-06T08:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=11835"},"modified":"2016-09-06T10:45:39","modified_gmt":"2016-09-06T14:45:39","slug":"aint-no-fag-in-flip-flops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=11835","title":{"rendered":"Ain&#8217;t No Fag in Flip-Flops"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Chipbrownharness17-112x300.jpg?resize=112%2C300\" alt=\"Chipbrownharness17\" width=\"112\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-11836\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Chipbrownharness17.jpg?resize=112%2C300&amp;ssl=1 112w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Chipbrownharness17.jpg?resize=56%2C150&amp;ssl=1 56w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Chipbrownharness17.jpg?w=262&amp;ssl=1 262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 112px) 100vw, 112px\" \/>My spouse and I completed our chores at the mother-in-law&#8217;s place in Pittsburgh, and headed back on the 250-mile trek to our home in Maryland.<\/p>\n<p>When nature called, we stopped at a rest stop on the Turnpike.  <\/p>\n<p>When you enter the building, there is a Starsucks on the left and bathrooms on the right.  Waiting in line for Starsucks were the &#8220;usual suspects,&#8221; millennials starting at smartphones, wearing shorts and flip-flops.  Wearing denim jeans and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bootedman.com\/cycle\/chipbrownharness.html\" target=\"_blank\">brown Chippewa harness boots<\/a>, I don&#8217;t fit that kind of crowd; I turned right and headed into the bathroom and into a toilet stall. <\/p>\n<p>You quite never know what you will hear while using the toilet at a rest stop, but the subject of this post is exactly what I overheard when two guys who entered the bathroom about the same time that I did&#8230;<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n&#8230;went to the the urinals next to, ahem, where I was &#8220;seated.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p>One of the guys must have been looking down (&#8220;ahem&#8221; again) and said, &#8220;nice boots, what are they?&#8221;  I couldn&#8217;t see him, so I did not say anything. I couldn&#8217;t tell if he were speaking to me. Turns out he was talking to the guy next to him who was also wearing boots.<\/p>\n<p>The other guy replied, &#8220;Justins.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Guy #1 said, &#8220;nice boots.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Guy #2 said, &#8220;yeah, <strong>I ain&#8217;t no fag in flip-flops<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That is exactly what I heard.  Sheesh.  Where did that come from?  Did he check out the people waiting in the Starsucks line?  I doubt these two guys lived in the area.  They were passing through, like me.<\/p>\n<p>I never like to hear pejorative terms like that used, but I was not in a place where I could say anything &#8212; in the compromised position that I was (ahem, remember I was &#8220;seated&#8221; on a toilet?) &#8212; I was just going to let it go, SMH at the foolishness.<\/p>\n<p>When I finished my business, I stepped out of the stall to wash my hands.  Those two guys had finished and walked out without washing.<\/p>\n<p>I left the bathroom and saw my spouse waiting for me.  I walked up to him and asked, &#8220;ready to go?&#8221; to which my spouse said, &#8220;yep, let&#8217;s hit the road.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Just as we were leaving, Guy #1 from the bathroom came up to me and said, &#8220;were you just in the bathroom?  Don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m a fag or something,&#8221; (glancing at Guy #2 standing next to him) &#8220;I just noticed those boots you&#8217;re wearing and wanted to know where you got &#8217;em.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I was a bit non-plussed, but recovered quickly enough.  Without batting an eye, I pointed to my spouse and replied, &#8220;my husband here got them for me as a birthday gift.&#8221;  (Turning to my spouse, I asked,) &#8220;Do you remember where you bought them, honey?&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p>My spouse knew precisely what I was doing and said, &#8220;on-line; I don&#8217;t remember exactly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But the look on the faces of these guys was priceless.  They both stammered and were flustered.  One couldn&#8217;t get ahead of the other faster while running out the door.  Their exit was comical.<\/p>\n<p>My spouse and I laughed and laughed.  <\/p>\n<p>Life is short:  yep, us married gay men wear boots.  No flip-flops for us (faggy or otherwise!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My spouse and I completed our chores at the mother-in-law&#8217;s place in Pittsburgh, and headed back on the 250-mile trek to our home in Maryland. When nature called, we stopped at a rest stop on the Turnpike. When you enter &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=11835\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motorcycle-boots"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11835\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}