Being thankful

Not a few of you may be against celebrating Thanksgiving (I would add a link here but putting "thanksgiving genocide" into any search engine will give you plenty to read) but today was the day my family celebrated it. We had turkey, autumn vegetables and delicious pumpkin pie. We also had a new guest! One of my brothers brought his new girlfriend and there was no small amount of buzz prior to her arrival. When they finally arrived she did and said all the right things with my parents, brought them some wine, hung up her own coat, helped with the hors d'oeuvres, patted the dog etc. In general, she was very friendly, pleasant to everyone and appropriately dressed e.g. her breasts weren't hanging out of her top.

However, for some reason, this woman could not accept that I was single. What is the deal with coupled people and singles? Admittedly, this blog is about me auditioning local talent but being single is not the end of the world. In all honesty, I would rather be single than in a loveless partnership or otherwise settling for someone. I chose to ignore the few comments along the lines of, "I can't believe that you are single. You seem so intelligent." But then, when we sat down for dinner, she launched into match maker mode.

"Tell me, Rachel, what are you looking for? I know lots of Beaus!"
I shot my brother a quizzical look. He did not return my gaze. "Well, Amelie, I'm actually more into the Belles than the Beaus."
"Oh. Whatever makes you happy is fine with me."
I could have left it there, it being Thanksgiving and all, but her series of hetero-centric assumptions grated on me. So instead I added, "Actually, I hadn't been asking for your approval. I just wanted you to know what I was into before you embarrassed yourself further."

A cloak of silence, save for the clacking of cutlery and smacking of lips, fell upon the table. Amelie had the decency to blush. Finally, my step father asked if anyone would like more potatoes and conversation took over again. Later, as I was bringing plates into the kitchen before dessert, my mom grabbed my arm and quietly said to me. "You handled that well, dear." Which is part of what I feel thankful for right now. Being out to and accepted by my family.

The other thing I feel thankful for is my ingenuity. Last week, I went to one of Outspoken Montreal's Coffee Meetings at Le Cocktail. While I was there I met a wonderful woman but foolishly was too shy to ask for her contact details. A shyness I completely regretted the following day and especially after I realized that the next coffee meeting is on November sixth. This evening while on the metro home from Thanksgiving dinner, I had a eureka moment. Surely, the smooth-movin' lesbian who had also been talking to wonderful, would have at least become wonderful's facebook friend. Sure enough, when I got home and logged into facebook, I discovered that wonderful was indeed smooth-movin's facebook friend. I only felt mildly stalkerish as I sent wonderful a friend request. I was elated when I received her friend acceptance an hour later! May the games begin :)

Rachel ***

• Poaching Contacts ****