Working at the Post Office

I’m a French gay guy and let just say that France is kind of a cool place to live when you’re gay! Even if government has not allowed gay marriage nor adoption yet, recent studies show that an important majority of French people is in favor! Mentalities change and people start to give a damn.

Well, this is not what I was aiming to talk about.

I’m a student and during summer break, I work at a “center of mail distribution of the Post” ( sorry, I don’t really know how you call it in the US) of some town near my home. I’ve worked there for two summers now and I’m starting to know everybody who work there and I’ve learned to really like some of my coworkers whom some of them became friends.

Even though I find it pleasant to work there, there’s only two colleagues of mine which are aware of my sexual orientation. I’m out to all of my college friends, to most of my family, but when it comes to workplace, it gets harder to just say “ok, I’m gay”. Indeed, workplace is where I’ve heard most of the sexually offensive “jokes” so far. “Come on, don’t be a fag”, or “this client’s just a queer” are two in many sentences I have to ear and endure everyday.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that even if I’m cool with my sexuality, I can’t help but fear to let slip a sentence like “I met someone this weekend, HE is…” I know I won’t be beaten up or anything, but I fear and I know that the look of most of my colleagues will change and I just don’t want that. Having to go to work everyday knowing that only two persons will talk to you and the rest will stare at you and give you the “don’t touch me AIDS carrier” look, is simply unbearable.

I know that I haven’t suffered any great discrimination but I wanted to share this story anyhow, just to prove that we need people to give a damn, it’s so important not to feel alone at work, it’s where you spend most of your day and it can’t be a place to be feared.

Thank you for reading my story and I hope my English wasn’t to confused