Snippets of Cruise Conversation

Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, we went on a pleasant Caribbean cruise, taking the Carnival Elation from the Port of New Orleans, to Cozumel, to Progresso, (both on the Yucatan Peninsula), then back to NO. Pleasantly, this gave us the chance to visit for awhile with our friend Loretta, who lives in Baton Rouge and was amenable to 1) putting us up for Christmas night, the night before the cruise; 2) making us a lovely dinner for Christmas evening; and 3) picking us up at the NO airport and ferrying us to thee ship on Monday morning. It was very thoughtful and generous on her part and it made for a relaxing transition into cruise-mode.

Herewith, three small stories with a point.

One morning at [open-seating] breakfast we shared our table with a bright-eyed grandmother, who was cruising for her birthday with her family. She seemed already to be having a "blessed day", but I'm afraid I didn't listen to her much after she found occasion to say "and I really like that Tim Tebow".

Remarkably, at the same table on the same day, a woman who taught high-school biology. The conversation faltered a bit when, in reference to Halloween, she remarked that "we don't observe that Satanic holiday". I guess the enormous, jewel-encrusted pectoral cross she was wearing wasn't just for decoration.

One day for lunch I went to the counter where one asked for sandwiches, to get a grilled ham-and-cheese made by the helpful young man from Pakistan. He hoped to make light conversation.
"Are you traveling with your family?"
"No," I said, "just my husband and two friends."
His eyes popped out a bit. "Your wife?"
"No, I assure you, he's my husband."

I hadn't quite realized at the time that by merely being married we had become political activists and gay ambassadors, but there you go. It turns out to be not at all a bad thing.

p.s. There were other gratifying, and more positive, conversations. For instance, on our plane trip home, I sat next to a pleasant woman who, on discovering that I was traveling with my husband, was delighted to let me know that at her "place of worship" (Baltimore Hebrew Congregation) they were very accepting and indeed had just welcomed a new lesbian Rabbi and her partner.

Posted on January 5, 2012 at 23.19 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Laughing Matters, Personal Notebook

3 Responses

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  1. Written by charlie hopwood
    on Friday, 6 January 2012 at 03.32
    Permalink

    Am glad you two had a great time! Your conversations remind me of the conversation we had on our cruise to Canada in early October—-16 of us Gay men were seated at our tables fer dinner—a woman came up and asked us where our wives were—someone piped up with "Oh, we're members of the Dead Wives Club!"—–end of conversation and fast retreat by the nosey woman!

  2. Written by jns
    on Friday, 6 January 2012 at 17.23
    Permalink

    Years ago I arranged a dinner party for about 3 dozen bears. The last one in was asked by the hostess, "What are you, some sort of beard club?"
    "Close enough," was his response.

  3. Written by Kathy Kline-Taylor
    on Sunday, 8 January 2012 at 14.17
    Permalink

    I think the two comments that were made are quite amusing.

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