It ended up being a homecoming of sorts. Sitting inside of East/West, one of our favorite Athens restaurants, the lawyer sitting at the table grew increasingly frustrated at the conversation. We were telling the story of the sad state of affairs in the Tybee Judicial system, how the Police Department engages in doggie profiling and discrimination against gay dogs is rabid on the island.
"Just pay the fine," he advised.
"Where is the justice in that?" I fired back. "There's been enough discrimination again gays in this country. I'm proud of Winston for being who he is."
"YEAH!" screamed Sarah and my brilliant daughter-in-law Marie. I think my son Jeremy was getting ready to pull a knife out of his pocket and attack our friend the attorney.
To defuse the tense moment, I poured a glass of wine in Sarah's lap.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched as I licked the wine off of her. (To be honest, I love pouring wine on Sarah and then engaging in holy communion!)
Eventually the conversation resumed when the attorney said, "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
And that's the problem with America!
When it comes to little gay dogs like Winston ... or Goddess who is seven and uses marijuana for medical purposes ... nobody wants to have intelligent conversations about why discrimination exists.
Sure, Bill O' Reilly rants and raves against gay dogs and pot smoking but that is not an intellectual discourse. (It is someone who seems fascinated by killing Presidents. His last two books are about the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy. It seems the man has problems.)
The dinner ended so Jeremy, Marie my brilliant-daughter-in-law, Sarah and I needed to clear our heads ... so we did mega shots of tequila as we bitched about the legal system, discrimination against gay friends, biases against medical marijuana and books about killing perfectly good Presidents.
So you know what?
We're resolved to not pay the fine.
To hell with the Tybee Judicial system!
Goddess and Winston, the little gay dog, have been charged with being ... DOGS!
And what is wrong with that?
