Revelations from a straight man at Brewhaha

Yesterday I was sitting on a couch at Brewhaha, my favorite coffee shop, and reading The Tears of Artamon trilogy, when this guy sits down next to me. This was not particularly out of the ordinary as there are usually more males than females at this particular coffee shop--being in the heart of the gayborhood and next to the 12th st gym, it tends to attract this populace. For the record, I have only seen 1 or 2 straight men there in the 3 years that I've been frequenting it.

I turned to him briefly, gave him a semi-welcoming smile, then turned back to my reading.

30 minutes later he pokes me in the arm and says, "This is my favorite coffee shop in the city, but I always feel like I'm on display...it's a really disconcerting feeling." I turn, slightly confused, and finally really consider my couch companion: the baggy jeans, the t-shirt, the north face fleece...Could it be? A straight guy in Brewhaha? As he gives me a friendly/flirtatious grin, I find myself blushing and return a questioning look in reply. He explains to me that this one particular guy has been stalking the couch, walking by at least every five minutes just to give him a head to toe perusal. "I feel so dirty," he complained, "like he's undressing me right here. I didn't come here to get hit on, I just want read my article." I had to smirk at the reversal of the situation--I mean, what woman has not experienced that same feeling? He then further delighted me by realizing, "This is what women must feel like. It sucks."

I immediately exclaimed, "Yes I know! There's this guy at work who every time he sees me gives me an extremely obvious head to toe check out...it's so gross, not to mention unprofessional." He replied that it'd be one thing if he was at a club or some place where the come-ons were expected, but he just was going about his business and didn't expect/desire any attention. I revealed that this is one of the reasons I like going to Brewhaha--I don't have to worry about unwanted runins; it's safe for me. Of course he then threw up his hands and said, "I swear, my intentions are pure. I just had to get this horrible feeling off my chest!!"

Had a good chuckle about that. I felt the universe slide into balance for a couple of moments there.