Out

I have been thinking about "coming out" about where it is I work.  That would open things up so I could relate stories.  I would not be fired for being gay, but I am a single woman and do not wish to be tormented by anyone either.  I know that the world is becoming more gay-friendly, but I have seen violence and murder done to other men and women in my lifetime.  I got your gun-shy right here.  Matthew Shepherd was just the one that made the national news and got the TV movie.  It happened before, many times.

It isn't always murder.  Sometimes it is terror.

There is enough danger just being in the public eye.  Every kind of person frequents the place where I work.  I keep my name tag covered with other ID and have had my address removed from the phone book.  I am not living in fear.  In fact, I am not afraid of death.  I am, however, living with caution.

I want to tell you what I do because I spend much of my life there and because it generates anecdotes on a daily basis.

I do not want to tell you for the same reason that I am vague about my whereabouts in this journal and cautious about telling my full name to strangers I meet.  Most people, though occasionally assinine, are good.  It only takes one baddie to ruin your life.