Let’s take a quick break from all that gamer aggro to take a quick peek at the CreepyPM subreddit, where we find this lovely little Grindr exchange, posted by Jacob of rniraclewhip.tumblr.com, featuring a man with a strange question:
I think our questioner was just being kind here, pretending that he actually was asking about ass size. No, his question was actually a very clever literary reference that went over Jacob’s head but which I picked up right away because I am so very, very smart.
It’s a reference to a famous scene in Death of a Salesman. Biff Loman is telling his brother Happy about a job interview that didn’t quite go as planned.
BIFF (breathlessly): I did a terrible thing today, Hap. It’s been the strangest day I ever went through. I’m all numb, I swear.
HAPPY: You mean he wouldn’t see you?
BIFF: Well, I waited six hours for him, see? All day. Kept sending my name in. Even tried to date his secretary so she’d get me to him, but no soap.
HAPPY: Because you’re not showin’ the old confidence, Biff. He remembered you, didn’t he?
BIFF (stopping Happy with a gesture): Finally, about five o’clock, he comes out. Didn’t remember who I was or anything. I felt like such an idiot, Hap.
HAPPY: Did you tell him my Florida idea?
BIFF: He walked away. I saw him for one minute. I got so mad I could’ve torn the walls down! How the hell did I ever get the idea I was a salesman there? I even believed myself that I’d been a salesman for him! And then he gave me one look and — I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been! We’ve been talking in a dream for fifteen years. I was a shipping clerk.
HAPPY: What’d you do?
BIFF (with great tension and wonder): Well, he left, see. And the secretary went out. I was all alone in the waiting room. I don’t know what came over me, Hap. The next thing I know I’m in his office — paneled walls, everything. I can’t explain it. I — Hap, I took his fountain pen.
HAPPY: (Angrily.) Is u ass, bif?
Is you ass, bif?
This is truly the question of our time.
EDIT: Ok, I changed the Death of a Salesman quote. Dammit, this dopey joke is funny to ME.
I think auto-correct purposely messed up “big,” in some misguided A.I. attempt to save this jerk from embarrassment. However, undeterred, he strove forward.
If only auto-correct algorithms could recognize offensive behaviour…
It’s funny to me, too. And bonus points for your Tennessee Williams reference several posts ago, David…I am a theatrician of long standing.
@kittehserf: Welcome to the world of Grindr. I’ve also had several first-time messages there that consist of nothing more than a penis picture.
Brittersweet: I loved that song when I was a kid. Used to walk around singing it AT my Mom.
I’ve heard of death of a salesman, but only through media suggesting all Americans have to study it at school. Are the characters really called Biff and Happy? Is it a comedy?
It’s Ye Olde Feministe Joke.
A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.
The last pathetic MRA whine http://gawker.com/misandrist-car-service-coming-to-terrorize-nyc-males-1631928020
Oops. I mean latest. Wishful thinking I guess.
WWTH: I found this quote especially ironic, coming from MRA types:
WWTH: Poor woman hating libertarians, they just don’t know what to think about it. They’re still commenting of course.
Seeing as I have a major character in my stories named Biff, this is amusing to me for all the wrong reasons.
Ah, grindr. Good to know queer men are just as annoying as the straight ones when it comes to online sex and dating.
Death of a Salesman is definately not a comedy. i studied it in High School too. Had to read Mrs Loman.
Yes, and no. It’s kind of heavy-handed in the allegory, and it should come with a giant content warning for depression and suicide.
Sounds delightful! The only plays I had to read in school were Shakespeare. Yawnfest.
It’s good to see you, LBT! I hope jerkbrain isn’t treating you too badly.
I was lucky. We had to read The Crucible in high school instead of Death of a Salesman when we studied Arthur Miller. Still a heavy-handed allegory, though, but I enjoyed The Crucible and I’ve never been able to get into Death of a Salesman.
And why on earth would anyone think that asking a complete stranger about the size if their buttocks is an appropriate thing to do? Just right out of the blue? And then getting insulted and telling the person to “fuck off” when they tell you that it’s none of your business. That takes a major level of entitlement there.
RE: sparky
Brain is giving me a brief reprieve, thankfully. We took advantage of it and went to the fair yesterday; Sneak spent most of it in the 4-H animal section, squeeing over livestock and watching horse trials. (Zie also held a baby chick which made zer absolutely dizzy with joy.)
Me and hubby then went out for tacos and had a public transit adventure, on account of missing the last bus home and having to take a circuituous route back. But it was nice to have a NORMAL adventure like that for once.
Am I completely mistaken in my perception that Grindr is a place gay men go to find partners for semi-anonymous sex encounters?
I believe you are correct, Michael McG.
Yay for brain reprieves, and yay for fairs with 4-H animal sections. My co-worker was just telling me about her experience with her sons and the baby goats at a petting zoo, and we were both actually making squeeing noises the whole time. It’s like an involuntary response.
Seconded!
Baby goats are the cutest.
RE: cloudiah and sparky
There were TONS of animals, baby and otherwise, at the fair. And also two of the biggest horses I’ve ever seen. An evening well-spent, I daresay!
Pretty much, Michael McG. Of course, the real fun ones are the younger guys who use it to find guys willing to pay them for said fun. Things can get real interesting when you’re approached by such a guy and you tell him you’re not interested.
RE: Jarred H
ZOMG THEY’RE DRIVING DOWN THE COST OF COCK THOSE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE PEOPLE.
My initial knee-jerk retort was: while you may not go cock-out to the bathhouse, it is a bit silly to expect that no-one will go cock-out to the bathhouse; so, you might expect to be asked about your cock by guys with their cocks out.
I realize the above–in addition to being strikingly cis-sexist–skirts, and may cross into, victim blaming. The slightly more measured response is to note that entering into sexualized spaces might change one’s expectations of the level of sexualized interaction one might experience.
Most physical public spaces (streets, parks and beaches, restaurants, public restrooms, etc.) and some virtual public spaces (Christian Mingle, JDate, Match, Zoosk, Tinder [?], etc) are not explicitly reserved for sexualized behavior, so one’s experience of unsolicited and/or unwanted sexualized interaction is unquestionably sexual harassment and/or assault. However, going to other public our virtual spaces (swingers’ clubs or bathhouses; Squirt, Manhunt, etc.), and being offended by sexualized interactions is a bit like going to the mall and being offended commercialized behavior.