Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Ally



On my last flight, I slogged my way to the way back of the plane and hopped over a super cute dyke to claim my window seat. As I was shuffling in, she said, "thank you."


Heh?


She pointed at the "ally" button on the bag and said, sincerely, "thank you for that."


I was surprised -- never having had anyone comment on it before. Then, I stumbled over an answer as I overthought just what it was that this button says about who I am. Saying "you're welcome" seemed so weird...as if I believed I was wearing that button as some sort of act of benevolence toward others rather than as a statement about how I believe the world should work.


I finally did mumble out something. That out of the way, I found I really wanted to ask her how it felt to be on that plane, amongst a sea of people (including my own Eddie Bauer-style self), who suddenly (to me, anyway) looked profoundly str8. I wanted to ask her if she always mentioned it when she saw ally support. I wanted to know what she really thought of the button and if she carried any of the same conflictedness I did... To me, she was the most interesting looking person around, but then the holder of the middle seat plopped down between us and all discussion stopped.


2 comments:

Widgeon said...

Hey-where do I get one of those? Love the idea...

Zoe the Wonder Dog said...

My students are avid button makers. I'll look around to see if there are any more in our stash. You can order them online (http://www.cafepress.com/+ally+buttons) but I would think a women's resource center or LGBTQ center on your campus might just have them.