HolidaySpirits

I was invited to a couple of holiday parties this weekend, and managed to go to them without getting completely fucked up, which had been normal operating procedure for holiday parties every year before. I don't really miss the drinking but all I can say is that I seem to nervously down seltzer a these things like I am filling a swimming pool. I can say now, that in the old days I would probably drink just as much beer and Scotch, at least. And now that I am aware of how much quantity that I am putting away, I am kind of surprised that the Beer Industry isn't looking for a bailout package from Washington, too.
My wife got invited to a party thrown by a gay couple who where both men named Mitch, and I went along for the ride, so to speak...It was a fun party that slowly built up into a regular tea-dance that became so crowded by the time that we left that I almost got sweated on by the two shirtless guys wearing leather storm trouper outfits topped off with Santa hats. I was thinking about the shirtless storm trouper guys and how there always seems to be at least someone dressed in this attire, walking around my neighborhood, Chelsea, every night of the week. We live in Chelsea, and this had been the standard outfit since probably before I was even born 40 some-odd years ago.

I was reminded of a story...We moved into Chelsea back in the early 1990's and the neighborhood was certainly different back then as my wife and I felt like we stood out in a heavily gay neighborhood. This was long before the Buy Buy Baby moved in and Breeders like us felt safe to walk the streets. I used to joke with my wife back then that I was going to slip on my spandex shorts and go roller-blading shirtless with a Walkman strapped to my ass, and the image gave both of us a side splitting laugh at this image of me.
Anyway- my wife had this friend of hers from high school who is a Union Electrician. He grew up on Long Island and still, to this day, lives in the town were he grew up. He used to have to come to my neighborhood every so often, as for some reason the Electrican's Union held there monthly meetings in the Fashion High School across the street. I was talking to him one day out on Long Island and describing to him how my neighborhood was great, and by-the-way, overwhelmingly gay.
He said he had never noticed. But then this light bulb went off...
"Ohhhh. I just used to think that it was strange how some many of the men walking around seemed unusually fit!" He kept on trying to figure out were the really good gym was.
DK