Every teacher at my school has a study hall period at the end of the day. It is a garbage waste of my time. Rarely do students use this time to do work. Study hall usually turns into a huge gossip fest.
Today, while the students gossiped, I was grading essays and listening to my ipod on my docking station. A student came over and asked to change the song and I did not reply. The next thing I know, the student starts playing Whitney Houston’s So Emotional Remix.
Sean, who had the infamous peter meter [http://coreyisamess.blogspot.com/2008/10/measuring-up.html] is a thuggish kid and is standing over a group of other students states: Man, that’s that gay music they play at Bulldogs.
I pause. I wonder, is that a read? I reply: Sit down and be quite. He does so (I don’t play with classroom discipline) but I am inclined to wonder how he knows about bulldogs.
16 comments:
Why does the Michael Jackson song, "Childhood" come to mind? These kids today are not innocent at all. By the time they graduate from high school they have done more than most adults have in a lifetime. I know I mentor kids like Sean who are not shy about saying whatever. But you live in Atlanta so gay etiquette is not foreign there. Is anybody under the age of 25 closeted in Atlanta? LOL!!
NO HE DIDN'T LMAO! WOW
You should have asked how he knew, and see what excuse he come up with then..lol
BPS- I don't know if Sean is actually gay. He has a girlfriend and is a thug (I know, I know... No one has to say it).
Keith, yes he did.
JB- I did not even look his way. I simply stayed at my desk, told him to be quiet, and kept grading essays. I did not want him to know that I knew any other Bulldog besides the one that barks and wags his tail (even though many of the men in Bulldogs actually do both, simultaneously).
I think everyone knows about Bulldogs. With it being located where it is, just about every adult who lives in or has visited Atlanta has rode down Peachtree street and stared in awe at the line of black gay men — still a rare sight for many people. Sean may have seen it, or maybe one of his uncles or the older dudes in the neighborhood has seen it, and has said something similar about a song being "the gay stuff they play at bulldogs" and Sean is simply repeating it.
Either way, I think it's a pretty powerful example of black gay culture in Atlanta being strong enough to make its presence known even in places you would least expect it. Even though he was trying to make fun of it, at least he knew Bulldogs existed. In most cities, hardly anybody outside of the life knows the name of a black gay club, or that such things even exist. Visibility remains one of the biggest obstacles of our movement, and in its own twisted way Bulldogs plays an important role in initiating that visibility.
Oh yeah, in response to BPS: I hope no one under 25 in Atlanta (and many other cities and towns) is closeted. It would be such a needless waste of energy.
everyone in atlanta knows about bulldogs
in this day in age it shouldnt be surprising that he may know someone that is gay or who has been.
It's Atlanta. Nuff said C. Hell you saw how shocked I was of how tha kidz in tha A go HARD for tha life... Sean is just astute. Applaud that young man! LoL.
~Damnit!
these kids know too much indeed...I wonder if there is some way to wipe their memories clean?
LMAO... WOW...
Oh Lord, I can't begin to fathom having been exposed to such things at that age. =( Even now, I am still just a kid. ^_^
Ooooooooooh, you have a lady in your class...
CHILD NO MA'AM... HOW OLD ARE THESE KIDS? AND THIS IS ATLANTA, SO EVEN IF HE WAS RIDING BY BULLDOGS WITH SOMEONE OLDER THEY COULD HAVE MADE A COMMENT ABOUT IT... BUT TO KNOW THE MUSICAL TASTE... WOW!
wow...we need to give this child a little spot on your blog...lol. He did get you together.
LMAO... yes they know a little too much lol.
These kids have gay relatives that talk openly about the places they visit. All people know that da kids love Whitney, Mirah or Beyounce. Yes it was a read down, since the music was in your ipod.
lol...he may very well not know a damn thing about Bulldogs.You know, better than I, how this chilrun' pick up "things" and then speak them like they have first hand knowledge. You handled it well.
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