Two New Things For Me

1. This weekend, for the first time in my entire life, I gave a homeless person something. Directly. I worked up to it, though I didn't realize it. There are a few homeless people who live (live?) up the block from me, and I walk past them when I'm going to the train. They just lay on the ground and read or talk with each other or write. The day after Thanksgiving I somehow made eye contact with the woman, and we said hi.

Two days later, I was walking to the train with my friend's daughter, and we were snacking on some green grapes I'd thrown in a Ziplock. I have no idea what compelled me, but I just turned to the guy sitting there reading and asked if he wanted one. He said something like, "That'd be great, thanks" and I gave him three. He thanked me, I you're welcomed him, and the world kept moving. Somehow, I feel like I've broken a seal now.

2. On Saturday, for the very first time in my life, I went to an apartment lived in by lesbians. My friend had to feed their cat, and I was with her, so I went too. I told my mother about this on Sunday. My mother, who has (to her knowledge) never known anyone gay said to me, "I hope you didn't drink the water." Though I know she knows you can't "catch" being gay, she did act like it was a big deal that I ate a cookie one of them baked. She asked me what the apartment was like, so I told her all about the cool bookcases, their awesome view of a lake, the huge closet, the funky kitchen sink, and wrapped up by telling her it's clearly an apartment lived in by artsy people. Though as my friend and I were walking out, I did comment to her that they had a lot of shoes. "They're two women, what do you expect?"

"So, you couldn't tell?" No Mom, you couldn't tell. My poor clueless mother. You'd never believe it if I told you she grew up in Brooklyn and Queens.