My First Encounter with a Homosexual

As many already now same-sex marriage became legal in Canada in 2005. The country was the forth which enacted such law. I do not care about someone's sexual preferences but sometimes I think I might not be comfortable around a guy man as mush as I would be around a heterosexual one, especially because I've not have such feeling or experience in my life. I just don't know how to react. I know I should act normally and treat him the same way that I would treat a heterosexual but at the same time I don't know what's going on in his head! Is he checking me out? Is he interested in me? Would he make a move? What's the deal?!

With that in mind, I have encountered with a male fella a few times at work. He's mostly polite and always helpful. He acts weirdly and stupid at times but I always have ignored that. He normally dresses like a well-scrubbed rube! Shoe's not laced! pants almost down on his hip, not shaved most of the time, wrinkled shirt with the collar not bent properly. He's a disgusting mess! 

At lunch and I have sat next to him, due to lack of enough room in the dining area (and it doesn't mean that I would not sit next to him, if there were other spots available, don't get me wrong and be offended, that's not what I mean) and he eats like a freaking pig! He first eat a main meal and then starts slurping a disgusting cup of sugary yogurt-like liquid and then bites an apple and then starts drinking water! All done in less than probably 10 min. or so! 

A few weeks ago and during a conversation I asked him what his plan was for winter! I know it sounds silly but wanted to see what he says. He said that he has planned to see his father in __. I asked him if he was going with his lady, simply because once he had told me that he was engaged, he said no he would just go by himself. Then one early morning, while it was dark, I realized that he is being dropped at the doors of our workplace. As I said it was early and dark but the driver looked like a man to me from distance but I paid no attention and I thought I saw the person as a man due to the lack of enough light. Then when I asked one other person about him, he said: He's a gay man! 

I was a little shocked because I immediately recalled that I had called his (or maybe her) fiance, a lady! I don't think it's an appropriate term to use for a homosexual man because you don't know which one is the wife and which one is the husband and even if you do, you don't know (or I'd better to say) I don't know what the etiquette is: Do homosexual couples call themselves wife and husband? There must be an emitter and a receiver(!) or is that mutual or both ways?! I don't know. 

Nevertheless I know that I have to adjust my behavior when I'm near him or am talking to him especially because I have seen him smiling at me a few times! I mean people smile at others but sometimes they mean something. 

(Photo: The so-called Prime Minister is seen here in the 2016 Toronto Gay Pride Parade. Some people do everything to get as many votes as they can, even the things that they don't believe in them. Pardon my language but the right term is they prostitute themselves. This, however, does not mean that I dislike homosexuals. I just don't thinks there is a need to announce it publicly the way it is done. People's sexual preferences, is their own choice. That's what they like. Let them like it. It's like we would have Table Tennis Lovers Parade! How stupid would that be? Everyone has a preference in sport. If I like Hockey over Basketball, do I need to announce it?! That would cause more problem than making the sport popular)

My Cousin Vinny

I heard about My Cousin Vinny first in a Seinfeld episode. George is at home, watching TV. His fiancé, Susan, walks in and as soon as she sees him goes: Another Merissa Tomei movie?! And she refers to My Cousin Vinny. " Do you have a thing for Merissa Tomei? " She asks then! And the conversation follows with George having a fantasy about making out with the actress on the coach! That is a hilarious scene like most of Seinfeld stories.

Based on what I knew when I was in Wal-Disgusting-Mart to by a few pieces of fruit, a few weeks ago, because everything else is simply pure disgusting, including most of the staff, the entire store's cleanliness and organizations and unfortunately a number of human-like creatures who shop there as well, and saw the DVD, I didn't mind paying $5 for that. It definitely worth the money.

I had seen two comedies with Joe Pesci performing in them, and I guess everybody has seen them, Home Alone and Home Alone 2, but this one is much better. Pesci is away from the character he has in Goodfellas, one of the greatest movies in the history and Casino, but still performs very well. The movie is pretty funny and Tomei is very sexy and unbelivebly beautiful in the entire movie. She won an OSCAR for this movie as the best supporting actress.
I'm not going to reveal the script here and spoil it for the ones who hasn't see it but I do recommend that if you want good laughs. It's hard to rate movies but I would give at least 3.5 out of 5.
(Photo: I took this photo myself(!) using the feature GOM Player has. Marissa Tomei is seen in a conversation scene with Pesci, her fiancé)

A Lovely and Pleasant Encounter

I should probably start posting new stories under Workplace Stories for this new job of mine but perhaps it's good to write about this one which happened today, first.

We have a supervisor and then there are a number of us, team members. There's this coloured guy, and I don't use this term to degrade him or anything like that, it's used just because I rather not to give any information about the stories I write here so tracking could be almost impossible(!), who doesn't want to accept the fact that he's part of the team and has to follow whatever the supervisor's order is. They've had issues previously and a few days ago it lead to a sort of nasty exchange of words. In my opinion, and I say that before I tell the story, it's because the supervisor has given the guy more than he deserves, room to maneuver around and I have told him but he sites what the guy has done for the company as the reason why he has been given so much credit.

Nevertheless I was working and I heard the guy asking something from me on the radio. Of course everybody else heard that. He asked me why I had not done, lets say, job X. I told him that I had been told, by the supervisor, to leave it to another colleague. He asked me to do that and that was when the supervisor interjected by saying: I tell you when things should be done! Of course it's not his exact words but is close enough. The guy went silent for a few minutes and then responded by saying: I was nice to you ... ! The supervisor in response said that he would go to him to talk to him in private. Obviously he didn't want to escalate the issue, especially while everyone was listening to that on the radio! We didn't hear what went down between the two but on the way back to his office, the supervisor told me that he was defending me while the guy kept pounding. And in a way he was right. I simply followed the supervisor's order. And then later in the day I saw the guy and he asked me what the supervisor had told me. I told him that was the other guy's fault. I wanted to divert his attention from the fact that I had appreciated the supervisor for defending me! In fact this has always been the case in the past three months or so. The supervisor would say something about the guy and then I say something about the supervisor to the guy and then the guy says something about the supervisor to me! So I'm in between these two guys and that's what I enjoy the most at this work. Anyways it then seemed that the two guys were discussing the issue at the end of the day. I heard that the supervisor apologized to the guy, which is something that I had not seen before. I didn't notice what the reaction of the guy was to that but the supervisor told me later that he didn't accept the responsibility of being wrong by insisting on job X! That was when I told him it was because he had given the guy much room to roam around and now he thinks he has the right overrule the supervisor's request/order. Now still after a few days both guys talk to me about the unwanted incident and it seems that they are parted. They guy used to hang out in the office, have a chat and share a laugh with the supervisor, every day, before he leaves. Now he bolts out and barely says good bye! He complains about the supervisor by saying that he was treated that way because he is a minority. Every time I am with one side, I show my support to him! That's how I keep everyone happy because I need this job and I need to work in a pleasant and peaceful environment. 

24 Km a Day

Last Sat. which was a off days for most of us, of course, made the 4th month that I have been working. Our supervisor said that we would be employees soon but hasn't said when. One of the guys said that it would take 4.5 months. Why? I guess because the agency needs to benefit from the person as long as they can. While I'm being much better at what I do on daily basis, compared to the time that I started, I still doubt that they keep me on. At the same time if they wanted to hire someone else and train him again, that would be a hassle. I know everything now and I even provide suggestions although they barely accept it. 

But the question is: Is that a job that people could consider until their retirement. From what I see, that is. We have at least 5 employees over the age 55 which I highly doubt they go anywhere but they are in a different department with less or next to zero physical job. I also have heard, both from manager and one of the employees that the company provides good benefits. So I can see why they intend to keep their " easy " jobs. 

As per me, I have to wake up early, which is fine but that's the drive, with mostly crazy drivers which bothers me, not even the cold. They speed, they use their high beam, they tailgate you, you name it. And I'm on the road for nearly 12 Km, one way. Beside that the amount of time I walk is so much that by the end of the day I barely can stand on my feet. Let alone the heavy stuff that at time I have to lift or the tension and stress I'm under when I use one of the machines. 

Luckily I have been scheduled for a job interview in a few weeks. Neither the interview nor the training after that is easy but I will have to beat both of them. That would be a separate post.

Cowboy Taphouse

This past weekend we decided to check a bar after probably 10 years or so! Yes! The last time I had been into a bar was probably even more than 10 years! First of all I'm not a drunkard and even if there was a time I drank it was at a social event or The Chef's house. 

Now that The Chef has been kicked out of his home and there're not any parties of any kind (except for the past Christmas party that I didn't go) I don't drink. So we decided to go to this place called Cowboy Tap House in the northeastern part of the town. What Cowboy? The customers were mostly old Caucasian fellas, a few Blacks, East Indians of Sikh faith and a number of Afghans! 

The bar is just a regular one that mostly workers after their daily labour go there to play a game of pool, drink a Beer or too and have a chat with waitresses. It was not even busy although most of the tables were occupied but it was not crazy busy in a way that people were in each other's faces or something like that. And sadly no women and girls except a few old ones with their boyfriend and husbands! Waitresses were not bad but I don't know if you could make a move on a waitress or not in a bar when you go there for the first time! I don't know what the bar etiquette in that regard is! 

We ordered a jog of Beer and then two baskets of Wings. The Beer was just OK. Nothing extraordinary that I would go for it again to that place. I suspect that it had even been diluted before it was brought to us! The Wings were both super dry but thoroughly cooked. But again I wouldn't go for that again. We chatted a little bit and ordered the second jag and the second couple of baskets. I was a little hungry and that helped me to overcome that but then we got bored because there was no activity especially when a couple of Afghans approached us and started bull-shiting.

The bar has a nice fireplace with comfortable armchairs around it which makes it a good spot to eat and drink in winter 

When we ran out of both Beer and Wings, the waitresses appeared at our table one after another. Obviously you can't just hang out in a bar, especially on a night which it's not very busy. That could be the case with Cowboy Tap House every night! You need to order or get the hell out. So when the waitresses appeared I told them that we were just taking a break and the Afghans were being really annoying. So we decided to leave before we had to throw them back to their freaking table! Our entire bill was a little over $36 and I gave the waitress a total of $40 to make it right. I guess she was happy and we got the hell out. I haven't to many bars in Calgary lately so I can't compare them. It's just an OK place for hanging out, having a drink or a light supper. Nothing special about the place and nothing bad either, except for the bugs I explained them above!
(Photo: The inside of the bar in a not busy night)

McDonald's's Reaction to Wage Increase

First of all I hope the double S and apostrophe is correct grammatically. Second of all you all probably know that minimum wage went up in a number pf provinces, including Alberta, lately. Wrong decision that I don't know if enough thinking had been behind that or not but it originally led to more than 80,000 job losses in the country! 

I've never been a business owner but I've watched every business I've worked for or dealt with closely. There's lots of waste and unnecessary work as a lack of organization, system and competent management. However that is a different subject that I will probably post about it later but I wanted to briefly refer to the reaction of one major international business, or to be specific, a certain location to wage hike and I hope I'm right.

Typical McDonald's customer. This guy has either consumed so much narcotics that can not keep himself up or has been up all night looking around and hunting(!) and now where's better than McDonald's to relax?

There's this McDonald's that I used to go to a lot and I don't any more, as part of my money-saving plan and although that location being nasty and full of drug addicts, hobo and troubled people. I was there once about a week ago or so and I wanted to sit and work on my studies. My computer was low on battery and I wanted to charge it. I realize that all of the outlets are blocked! I don't know how much electricity a computer charges if it is plugged in for its battery but compare to what McDonald's wastes on daily basis, it's nothing. And I know that every branch is managed individually but they all must follow certain standards dictated by their head office. For that reason I'm going to find out if McDonald's Canada authorizes that or not.

(Photo: An outlet in a McDonald's location in Calgary is blocked to prevent customers consuming electricity!)