I was in a psych unit at one point with a woman named A. She was an older, heavyset lesbian. She had lived an interesting life. I think at one point she was a hair colorist who traveled and trained stylists. At another point she was a bartender in a strip club. She said she never took off any clothing but she made good tips there. She suffered a bad gay bashing in the 90s – she had internal injuries from it. But there are 2 things about A. I will never forget. She made $14 an hour selling insurance to seniors. She made $2 extra for upselling, but she thought it was unethical to try to get seniors to purchase products they didn’t need, so she didn’t take that commission.
The other thing I will never forget is what she told me:
“We are not stupid, and we are not crazy”.
A, you have no idea how many times your words have kept me going.
Thank you.
Laughs and Lobotomies 