Every day Westword receptionist Steve Burge gives you the fashionable view from the front desk.
These firemen came in and I knew, immediately, I had my Look of the Day. I could talk about “men in uniform…” or “the look of a hero.” I could. But, see, there’s something much bigger to be discussed here. When these gentlemen pulled up, the lobby area filled almost immediately with my female (and at least one male) co-workers who all suddenly, really needed my “help with the… umm… you know… the… I need…to....” Because that really happened. I’m not kidding. They came from everywhere. Instinctively, or something. It was ridiculous. So I’m not looking at the clothes this time. I’m looking at the situation as a whole. And what have here is a photograph of “Cosmic Injustice.” The woman surrounded by these big, strapping firemen is a lesbian. She’s a lesbian. And she is the one they asked for when they arrived. She is working with them on an account or something. I don’t really know, because… you know… I wasn’t listening. I was distracted by the firemen. But yeah… here come the firemen with their truck and their boots and their sexy uniforms and their muscles and their big hose… and who do they want to see? The lesbian. Totally bullshit. As she led them away, a female co-worker of mine grabbed my hand and squeezed it, tightly. “It’s so unfair,” she sniffed, her voice barely a defeated, little whisper. I pulled her close to me and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “I know. I know. Shh, now…” I rocked her and brushed a wayward hair from her brow. “I wish I were a lesbian,” she reached for a Kleenex. “They get all the cute guys.”
- Steven J. Burge
