lifestyles

Lifestyles are a strange thing. I can be friends and aquaintances with all kinds of people, but I do not always fit into their lifestyles. This became very clear to me while volunteering for the Red Dress Party. There I am, amungst these great people, all working for a cause. As I looked around the room we were setting up, it was so obvious I could no more enjoy the very party I was preparing, than fly to the moon.
There was a bar stocked with Red Bull and lots of Vodka, garbage cans, a stage, several seating areas; all the makings of a party. There were also little seperate rooms that had themes. There was a lot of red fur and mirrors. The area in the back had several beds, adorned with red fur, and white sheets. A man was attaching some kind of swing to the ceiling. Everything was very vivid and tacky, yet, somehow, there was an elegance going on as well.
There was a room set up way in the back with a big sign advertising what would be happening in that room. There were black curtains hanging to make seperate little areas. My volunteer partner enlightened me on what I now know as the "back room."
It then became very clear to me this party was going to attract a certain lifestyle that I choose not to partake in. Yet I was happy to be helping create it.
Tonite, lots of men, women, gays, transexuals, and straights will be wearing red dresses; some with fishnet stockings and stilletos, some with fur trim, some will carry whips, some will wear diamonds,some will wear beautiful shoes and some army boots and they will be having one hell of a good time. All in the name of a cause near and dear to my heart. The fight for people affected by HIV/AIDS.

I will not be attending the Red Dress Party, but I am thankful for each and every person that will be. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for being who they are, for partaking in what makes them happy, and most of all for giving of themselves in the process.
May the Red Dress Party be a nite they will never forget.

jb