depotguy's blog post - Civility has a thin veneer

I found myself down at the other end of my workplace this morning looking for an odd filter. A 8 foot wall between me and 5 of my co-workers engaged in a conversation. I could hear them plain as day.
one of them mentioned my name (a common name and there are two of us) and the other said "which ____" trying to differentiate.
"was it the ass packing, cock sucking, (insert 10 different derogatory terms for gay men) or the other one?"

I should point out here that these are people I've had at my house, I babysat ones kids in an emergency, I made lasagne for another after his wife's back surgery. They are not strangers.

I should also say that I am not caught of guard. Straight men have a language of exclusion. When they are in a circle like that it is always "us against the world" type of talk. Be it women, muslims, what ever can be seen as a threat at that moment.

As for me, I just walked around the corner. Stunning them into silence. I said "I may be many things....but deaf is not one of them."