Every so often, I get myself into the "Dude, pare" dilemma.
Unless you're an ultra stone butch lesbian who has issues being identified as a man, I doubt if you ever get into such a situation.
What am I talking about?
For a couple of times already, whenever I attend certain events/activities and it's time for introductions, I would often get a, "
And after that comes a whole string of Dude, pare situations. "So dude, pare your dept. often gets to go on trips because of community work, ah. That must be nice." or "Dude, pare, you look like you're into a lot of sports. You play bball?" or once in a while, "TOL, can I take a look at your camera, TOL?"
I don't really get bothered with the use of "Dude," "Pare," and yes, even, "Tol." Use "Dude, pare, tsong" on me all the time, and I couldn't care less. The two Carls in my life call me "Bro" and I call them "Bro" too (because that's what they are to me).
But sometimes it kind of gets unmanageable. Hehe!
The most recent "Dude, pare" situation I was in, it reached a point when we were talking about girls. Unless we're talking about a chic girl's dress or handbag, I would be a totally useless person in that kind of conversation (save for one pathetic attempt to tell a girl that I liked her a lot. Hahaha!) This new friend was telling me, "Dude, pare, next time we party. Just point the girl you like in the room and I'll help you meet her." I just replied with a courteous smile. In my head, I was going, "Dude, pare ka diyan. Halikan kita diyan. Makita mo?!" Hehehe!
What I'm concerned with the most is that these straight guys asssume that I'm, well, playing for their team, too. It's a concern because I don't like them to think that they've been sort of misled when they do they find out that well, I play for the other team.
I mean, what am I to do the next time I get into this kind of situation. Just blurt out the info. "Hi, my name is UP Boy. And by the way, I'm the dept's resident homo."
I don't usually do this. A couple reasons? Well, 1.) it's not exactly the first thing I say to people I've just met, 2.) it still is a bit of a private matter, although I will say the truth when asked, 3.) uhm, I still live in Manila (although this is really the least of my concerns).
As you can see, this is somewhat a damn if you do, damn if you don't kind of thing. Andsurely, I'm not the only one who gets into this kind of situation. Hmm, to those who encounter the same situations, how do you usually handle this?
Otherwise, I would probably start considering getting a pink triangle tattoo on my forearm. The Nazis tattoed homo prioners sent to the concentration camps with that mark.
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