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I went to the Pride parade today. Meaning, I was in it. I want to say I "marched" in it, but there was no marching. The company Employee Resource Group for LGBTQ+ was sponsoring an entry in the parade, and a work friend was going to be in town for it, and asked me to join. First, I said no, because I was going to be busy. And then it turned out to be a different weekend than I expected, so I no longer had an excuse. I would have needed a really good excuse then. I had already agreed to join them before I realized I hate parades. Fortunately, being in them is much better than watching them!
Unfortunately, the timing... I was supposed to be at the meeting place around 1:00, and we would depart for the staging area at 1:15. Somehow I got myself mixed up, and arrived at noon. Not a big deal except I could have had an extra hour to work in the yard this morning. The parade was supposed to start at 2:00. Not sure what time it actually started (which is around the time we arrived), but we didn't get moving until 4:00. Four. Oh. Clock. Granted, we were in the back, but man, that was forever.
Our little group had freezer pops and plastic cups to hand out. They were in a cooler in the back of the minivan. By this time, the parade was moving so fast I had to jog back to the car to get more pops, and then I had to jog along with it while holding open the cooler and reaching inside. We ran out a little over halfway through. And then we were just some people walking. I wore my kilt. Got a few comments from other people, mostly other kilted gentlemen.
It wasn't a bad time, though. Even that late in the day, there were still people watching and cheering, and waving their little Pride flags. They'd yell "happy pride" and I'd want to yell it back to them. I felt like we were there for them, and not the other way around.
Unfortunately, the timing... I was supposed to be at the meeting place around 1:00, and we would depart for the staging area at 1:15. Somehow I got myself mixed up, and arrived at noon. Not a big deal except I could have had an extra hour to work in the yard this morning. The parade was supposed to start at 2:00. Not sure what time it actually started (which is around the time we arrived), but we didn't get moving until 4:00. Four. Oh. Clock. Granted, we were in the back, but man, that was forever.
Our little group had freezer pops and plastic cups to hand out. They were in a cooler in the back of the minivan. By this time, the parade was moving so fast I had to jog back to the car to get more pops, and then I had to jog along with it while holding open the cooler and reaching inside. We ran out a little over halfway through. And then we were just some people walking. I wore my kilt. Got a few comments from other people, mostly other kilted gentlemen.
It wasn't a bad time, though. Even that late in the day, there were still people watching and cheering, and waving their little Pride flags. They'd yell "happy pride" and I'd want to yell it back to them. I felt like we were there for them, and not the other way around.
