Definition of Man

I briefly mentioned the whole Moose Jaw parking lot incident in an earlier post, but I will go into further detail since I am currently procrastinating for a few minutes from what I should be concentrating on right now (my thesis). After B!LF's show at the Royal in Moose Jaw last Friday, Tina and I went outside to the parking lot to grab my bag from April's car. As we were walking, this guy comes up to me and calls me a faggot. So I told him to go ask my girlfriend how much of a "faggot" I was. I continued to start walking, but then he said something to the effect that with how I was dressed I was obviously a "faggot." I had a lime green shirt with the caption "DO NOT COMMIT," plus I had a candy necklace around my neck. Appraently those things automatically makes a guy gay. Tina started getting in the guy's face and I opened April's car door to get my bag. Suddenly I got shoved from behind into April's car door and subsequently the pavement. I looked up and saw this guy along with two of his friends. I thought I was going to get the living shit kicked out of me. Gianni then showed up on the scene and we somehow managed to calm the situation down a bit and avoided a huge fight, but the whole proceedings left me really pissed off. It really reminded me why I'm embarrassed to live in Saskatchewan sometimes. Having been to Toronto and Vancouver, I hae really noticed how closeminded people are in Regina and moreso in Moose Jaw. People here are truly afraid of THE OTHER. There are so many blatant racists and homophobes in these parts. Going to Toronto really opened my eyes because suddenly I was no longer in the majority. In Toronto, if you are a white heterosexual male you become a visible minority. Toronto is a cultural mosaic, rich in diversity. People do not instantly judge others with how they dress or look because they are constantly bombarded with people of all races and sexes and sexual orientation. But here in Regina, this is certainly not the case. Saskatchewan is the butt of many jokes across Canada and for good reason. I have never felt like I've fit in with most of the guys in Regina. For me to fit in I feel I would have to listen to AC/DC, constantly talk about cars and stereos, and love football. I would have to wear a white t-shirt, maybe a wife beater, and always wear blue jeans and a ball cap. In other words, I would be just another faceless anonymous guy on the streets. Indistinguishable. Just another sheep. I have always made it a point to dress a little differently and have fun with my hair by having different hairstyles and different coloring. I dress how I feel comfortable and I guess I don't feel comfortable being "normal." I definitely do not have a normal sense of humour and my politics are very left wing and I am generally a very liberal person. Most of my friends are definitely not your average run-of-the-mill people. April, Mark, Tina, Zubazz, Mr. Real, JC, Kev, Stace, Jenn, my cuz Dave, etc are definitely not "normal" Saskatchewan people. And that is why they are my best friends in the world. There are actually some people in Regina that "get it" and try to look beyond what is "normal."