It's a Small, Gay World

Last week I spent the longest two days of my life at a conference in Denver. While it turned out to be professionally useless, I did make a new friend. Tom was at my lunch table, and over rubbery chicken and over-salted mashed potatos, we learned that not only did we have a mutual acquaintance, but we lived in the same neighborhood and on the same block. We chatted both days of the conference and were surprised to find each other not just on the same plane back to New York, but also in the same row. I love those kind of "small world stories"--how sometimes you have to go to Denver to meet someone who lives a block away.

Anyway, during our cab ride home (sharing a cab! We're so green!) we talked about how we met our respective boyfriends.

"It was on a blind date," Tom sighed, "which made me so nervous because we each had a friend who was like 'I know a gay guy,' but we really clicked and we've been together for over two years."

"Oh God, I know--I hate those kind of set ups," I sympathized.

What is it about people thinking they need to hook up the gay guy they know with someone else just because he's gay? I've had two people try to set me up (pre-Matt) with guys solely because they were Jewish. Being gay or Jewish isn't a personality trait--it's an uncontrollable aspect of how you were born. It's like setting up two people because they're both blonds.