Cleaning up the Streets

Lets face it, in this day and age, pubic displays of affection are alive and well in our fair country of the USA. In fact it's so common that few of us even bat an eye when we see a couple kissing on the street. Sometimes the displays are more...agressive... than others, and sometimes they're just downright obscene. Most of the time, however, we don't notice because it is always there in the background of our day to day.

In our recent obsession with tolerance, however, a new kind of PDA has sprung up. Same-sex PDA. Now before a

hissy-fit ensues, I will hereby declare that the writer of this blog will not state her own opinion on same-sex couples, only acknowledge that such couples exist. Up until just recently, these people were very quiet about their preferences, and even more careful about who they were affectionate around. Not anymore. Now they would like to be able to be as open with their affections as any hetero couple. Naturally, they are still people who have problems with this. Who find it offensive.

Red light again. Sitting idly, turning my gaze out to the pedestrians around. A little ways down the way, I spied a homeless man lounging in the grass. His grizzled, crazily bearded face was tipped up into the bright new spring sun and he was playing with an empty soda bottle. Pondering him briefly, I moved on, considering the parking lot behind him before spying some activity going on at the corner near me. Two men, making out against the lightpost. My gaze leapt away from them habitually, as I have been conditioned to do when I see any couple lost in the world of each other. The homeless man had noticed them too.

He got up, seeming a bit labored by the effort, and limped toward them with a grim look. They were oblivious to him - until he started prodding one of them in the shoulder with his empty soda bottle. He poked and pestered until they finally turned around, a bit put off. I rue the fact that my windows were up. I couldn't hear what was said. But I could tell, by the shaking of his extended index finger and his stern face that he was giving the surprised boys a very strict talking to.

I laughed as the light turned green and I sped away. Leave it to the homeless to keep the streets family-friendly.