Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Living In Sin: Queer bait
()
Every week in Living in Sin, Jen Sincero provides advice to LA's sexually confounded. Sign up for her newsletter and have it sent to you every week. Ask Jen your questions: all are posted anonymously.
Dear Jen,
I'm a college freshman who's just stepped out of a four year relationship with a woman. My problem is, now that I'm looking to hook up with a new woman, the only mischievous smiles I get are from guys. I work in a hotel restaurant, and several of my gay male customers return just to talk to me. I'm a slightly effeminate man, but this just seems to have disaster written all over it. I feel like a pink panther searching for a female panther. How do I deal with this difference in the game of sexual appeal?
- Mr. Pink
Dear Pink,
Wait...what? What has disaster written all over it? The fact that other men are flirting with you, or the fact that you're intrigued/bothered by the fact that other men are flirting with you? Because as far as I'm concerned, there's never anything disastrous about being flirted with. I don't care what lurks within their pants - flattery is flattery. Take it where you can get it.
Support for LAist comes from
For example, a few years ago I was camping in the mountains near Cloudcroft, New Mexico and it started snowing. Camping + Snow + I'm freezing as I write this and it's 70 degrees out = disaster written all over it. So my friend and I decided to drive into town and cozy up at a bar. It was Saturday night and we found this great country dive that was packed. We could hear the band from the parking lot and they were rockin, hard, so hard that I nearly fell over when I got inside and discovered that no one in the band was under 90 years old. The bass player was in a wheelchair, the drummer had Parkinsons so badly that his head was bobbing to a different rhythm than the music, the fiddle player was clearly blind and the lead singer was hanging on to his walker with a death grip. They all wore cowboy hats and had one tooth among them. But they were s-m-o-k-i-n'.
At the break, the lead singer wheeled up to me and began regaling me with tales of his rock star past. In true, narcissistic superstar fashion, he didn't give a hoot about my story. It was all about him, for he was the star. And we both knew it. He was the godamned lead singer. And who was he flirting with? Who was he checking out through bifocals as thick as a glass of Metamucil? That's right. That would be me.
Methinks that the only reason you'd be nervous about these guys at work flirting with you is because you're nervous about what you're going to do about it. I knew I wasn't going to give gramps a groupie hummer, so I could just enjoy the moment. But were I someone, say, like Anna Nicole Smith, I might have lost my cool. Whatever the situation, you can't be effected by something you truly don't care about. It's impossible.
If you are indeed interested, the only disaster would be not acting on it. Life is far too short to not do something because you're ascared. If you're not interested, and just chose to use the word "disaster" without really thinking about it and now I'm crawling all over you for no good reason, take the compliment and move on. The fact that boys are flirting with you doesn't mean the ladies won't. It means you're hot. Enjoy it.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
If approved, the more than 62-acre project would include 50 housing lots and a marina less than a mile from Jackie and Shadow's famous nest overlooking the lake. -
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance.
-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars.
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
Best of LAist