Go Bears!

 Outcast and segregated groups of people often develop their own lexicon. I learned a whole new vocabulary back in the 1970's when I moved into the gay neighborhood of Chicago. Some of the words are too filthy or too controversial to repeat here, but many have now been incorporated into the mainstream language. In seventies slang I would have been deemed a "dinge queen", however since I kept my forays into the world of black men quiet, I was simply referred to as "chicken". Chicken meaning young, skinny, and hairless. A term was coined in the eighties for those who were the opposite, meaning a bit older, more plump, and hirsute. They are called Bears.

          

  Last night Mark and I went to a bar called Scandals. I was volunteering for Abandoned Pet Rescue and I, along with two ladies from APR, set up a table in the bar to promote adopting shelter pets and to possibly get a few donations. The reason we were in that bar is because it is Beach Bear Weekend and they invited us to be part of it. While the two ladies stayed near the table and chatted with the occasional Bear and Mark sat at a high top table nearby sipping his drink, I circulated through the place begging for donations. I managed to get quite a few people to drop cash into our donation jar. Our reception was fair seeing as we didn't bring any of the cute little animals with us. Just Me, the ladies, and Mark sipping his drink. A happy dog wagging his tail while I solicited the drunks would have probably elicited more donations. The only other thing significant about our evening was Mark sitting at that little high top table sipping his drink. Among all those big hairy men he looked like the appetizer.