Do you know who you could be if I gave you this little shiny red hat?

Sesame Street - The People in Your Neighborhood
My memories of Bob from Sesame Street pretty much seal the whole born vs. raised thing when it comes to my gay. I can remember even then, as a boy of five or six (?), that I was especially fond of him, though I'm sure I couldn't quite put my finger on why at the time. On second thought, I think I did put my finger on it a few times while watching him. To this day I have a thing for cardigans. So yeah, born. Nature, not nurture. At least for me. Of course, I also couldn't get enough of Juliet Mills on The Nanny and the Professor, so there's that.

So who are the people in my neighborhood, you ask? Maybe that should be a new Pipedreams feature. I see all kinds of crazy, mostly at work. My actual neighborhood is peopled by typische suburban hausfraus and their broods. I live on Generic Circle, just off McPlainwrap. But work is a different story. I got one for ya. This guy's a real maroon. He's recently divorced after seven years (bless her for staying with him that long.....I could never have gotten past the teeth, but she did, and promptly ran smack into his personality), and finances have been a little tight. I can sympathize with that part. Anyway, his variable rate loan kept pushing the mortgage payments higher and with gas prices the way they've been, he was in a pinch. Instead of, oh, say selling or making some other accomodations (other than whining to his banker), he decided he'd "show them". How'd he stick it to the man, you ask? He went into the bank president's office and threw all his loan and title documents down and said, "Take it!". Zing!

Dumbass.