#96 Random Person in my living room, Pride Pride, and new friend Badass Day

So it finally happened. I was dripping with sweat when I got home from Pride, and my AC was broken, so the first thing I did was jump in a cold, refreshing shower.

You know that eerie feeling you get sometimes when you start having odd worries about someone breaking into your home while you are in the shower and you wonder how you would react? In my imagination, I believed that I would do that good roundhouse kick to the crotch while screaming "Stranger Danger Stranger Danger" before running out the door quicker than the intruder can say "It Places the Lotion in the Basket". (if you know, you know.)

Turns out I was wrong.

My actual reaction to this situation -- No crotch kick. No Silence of the Lambs Agent Starling response. No turning-ma-tail-and-running.

I froze like a squirrel in the middle of the road accompanied with a Home Alone-esque scream.

There was no running. There was no attempt to protect myself.

I was so much cooler in my imagination.

The funny thing is that the intruder in my living room did the exact same thing -- frozen in place, screaming like crazy.

So it turns out that my apartment complex DOES have maintainence on weekends. So while I should have given some thought that the tech might come by to fix my A/C, I didn't think he would actually do that at 5pm on a Sunday.

Good thing I had my clothes on. He didn't need to see what my mama gave me.

Awesome guy. Once we both calmed down and dissolved into a fit of nervous giggles, he politely showed me how to MacGyver my A/C unit if it breaks down again, and casually mentioned that next time I can call the emergency number instead of submitting progressively more and more frantic messages via the online service request. Smart man.

Why is the AC so important today? Well, I had the honor of going with my Badass friend Susan to man a booth at St. Pete's Pride Festival, and man -- it was hella hot! Like you sweat so much that your light grey shirt has turned completely dark grey from all the sweat pouring down me.

Before we got to Pride, we hit the Maple Street Biscuit Company for some grits and grub.

Love this place -- instead of putting a name with your order, they have a question of the day where your response is how they announce when your order is ready. Today's question was "What era, time, or day would you like to travel to". So orders were called out as "3000 BC", "The American Revolution" and "Last Thursday".

Mine was "1989 New Years Eve." I wanted to travel back in time to tell my high school self that I was going to have so much fun in the next year and I should really take a chill pill and enjoy the ride. And -- sorry mama -- to reassure myself that the grain punch I drank during Freshman orientation week would not cause permanent blindness so just have fun dagnammit.

What era would you pick?

Anyhoo, we sat at a table with two others because it was crowded and MSBC offers communal dining. Life is so amazing sometimes. Who would have guessed that I would instrantly bond with these two great strangers sharing the table with us?

We spent most of our time talking about tattoos -- and they helped me outline my second tattoo. Y'all know I'm getting a hot dog wearing pants for my second one. When I explained this to the couple, the first thing he said was "What kind of pants?" Mind blown -- nobody had ever asked this before. His thought -- swim trunks with rubber duckies on them.

Genius.

I love that tattoos bring people together. I enjoyed listening to both of their stories about the meaning behind their tattoos and their experience in getting them.

Did you know that white tattoo ink is much more painful than regular ink?

We promised to keep in touch. And you know what? I think we actually will!

Chryssi and JT- let me know when you are getting your next tattoos so we can go celebrate together, and JT -- I can't wait to see the one about your third daughter. Goosebumps! And I'll let you know when I finally get my hotdog wearing swim trunks.

Pride in St. Pete... What can I say, but it was an unbelievably positive, uplifing experience. The joy and excitement that everyone had was contagious and I enjoyed every minute.

Susan and I were volunteers at the booth for "Come Out St. Pete" which is a not-for-profit program that does...

...something.

Here's the funny thing. Neither of us had any idea what our booth was all about and we didn't have time to learn about it before we were out recruiting visitors to our booth.

So when someone asked me what the program is all about, I did a bit of a blank stare before pulling the person over to the real experts behind the table to explain.

But now that I'm home, I checked out this amazing program and I hope you all go and check it out too.

Come Out St. Pete supports community and human rights organizations with a focus on LCGTQ+ youth, their allies and individuals comingout at any state of life.

They have events, support, and scholarships.

Check out their website -- it is full of information and affirmation.

comeOUTStPete.org

Susan and I had a very important job to support Come OUT St. Pete. We had to hand out stickers.

And boy-oh-boy -- we took our job seriously.

Adults love their stickers. You wouldn't think so, but there was some significant rejoicing when they were offered one.

Susan went up to a big, burly guy to ask him if he wanted a sticker, and his response was, "Of course I do. I'm not a psychopath". Ha!

Some people weren't as enthusiastic about the stickers as I thougt they should be, but I found that if I handed a sticker to the person while saying, "You NEED this sticker!", they almost 100% of the time accepted it -- and not always with a side-eye.

One person said, "Why are you giving me a sticker? Don't you have kids to give them to?" I responded, "Yes, I do. I have a 21 year old and a 23 year old and they are both up North and I wish they were here for me to give them stickers but they aren't so I can't give them stickers and that makes me really sad and I miss them so much."

There was a brief pause, after which he reached out, took the sticker, and said, "Fine."

The sticker looked really nice on his shirt.

Speaking of which, most times I would hand the person the sticker on the paper for them to use how they want. But sometimes, the receiver would indicate that they wanted me to put it on them. And I would ask where they wanted me to put it. You know... being helpful and everything.

I touched more nipples today than I have in my whole life. And I'm a nurse. I've touched many nips in my day.

People at Pride are hilarious, and their t-shirts kept us entertained the entire time. I asked the following peeps if they were ok with me posting their photos on my blog and they were enthusiastically so so I should be covered for HIPAA or privacy practices or whatever with these following pictures. Check out how awesome - funny -- amazing they all are.