Happy Pride!
It's June, and that means there are a ton of LGBTQ events going on this month in celebration. I attended Queens Pride last Sunday in Jackson Heights, and that was lots of fun. I've been going to it on and off for a while now and love its crowd and vibe. Being there just feels like home in so many ways. For this past week's, I watched some of the performances and walked around a bit, and eventually ended up grabbing some food alone at the nearby UFC chicken. Luckily, I was already sitting there with my food and a beer by the time that sudden downpour came towards the early evening. It had been a while since I'd been to that UFC, too, so being there at that moment with dry socks and fried stuff as I parched my thirst with a cold one felt pretty damn good. The restaurant isn't that big, and a family of four ended up sitting next to me after I'd had already gotten my food. It was a mom, dad, young son, and grandma. From the moment that the father and son first came in ahead to get a table, they brought this burst of energy that moved me. I basically began to eavesdrop immediately and didn't stop until I left. The dad seemed really outgoing and had this loud voice that was especially nice to hear because he was so sweet to his son. I'm guessing the kid was around 9 years old, and the dad was totally making jokes with him and the workers. I appreciated that. When the mom and grandma came in afterwards, the four of them together just made total sense to me. They just seemed like a real family, and their love for each other was so apparent. And what had me was the fact that each one of them was engaging in multiple conversations with one another. Stories about other family members that related to something learned were discussed as a group, and then there would be these separate criss-crossing back and forths among the four of them. Their dynamic just pulled me in. They talked about a lot of different things, and the mom even complimented the waiter on his haircut, which he reacted to with gratitude and surprise. The grandma also talked about how she'd made her kids clean the house with her and their father when they were younger. This was so they could use the $100 they saved by doing it themselves to eat together as a family at a restaurant afterwards. There was even a moment when I got to interact with them, which totally made my day. I knew they were super hungry because the topic of their excitement for the food came up after their order was taking a while. When they saw the server bring another dish of mine I had ordered, they ravenously asked about what it was and mentioned how good it looked. When their food eventually did come, it was a few dozen wings in this sauce, a few dozen wings in another sauce, and more fried chicken upon plates and plates of food. It's like, this family really knows how to enjoy themselves and go out to eat, and I loved seeing every minute of it. After I finished my beers and fried chicken, I wished them a great evening as I got up from my table to leave. It was sunny again by the time I stepped out onto the street to head back home on the subway. I don't think I could've asked for a better start to Pride month.
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