The Leaky Garbage Disposal

I didn’t expect to move from The Traveling June & Sweetcheeks Show to writing about a leaky garbage disposal but that is how life works.

One day you look under the kitchen sink and discover it is wet. So you investigate and determine there is a leak coming from the bottom of the disposal.

That is a good sign this thing has problem with an internal seal or some sort of terminal illness that requires replacement.

So it is added to the list of things to do because I needed one more thing to focus on. If fortune smiles upon me this is a simple fix and there is nothing more going on.

If fortune smiles broadly I’ll find a bag of money on my porch or a winning lottery ticket. That would solve a number of issues.

Money might not fix everything but it sure makes lots of things easier and it helps to provide options.

That is an ongoing goal in life, to have options.

My Uncle

That is my Uncle Mark in the photo above. It is 29 years since he died so figure this picture is in its early to mid thirties.

Uncle Mark wasn’t quite 50 when we said goodbye to him. I have written about him before and acknowledged I knew he died young but the older I get the more I understand how young he was.

Sometimes friends write about what is going on in The Castro and I think about walking through it with my uncle.

Given the recent attacks on Pride and those who support it I am reminded about how personal this is. He wasn’t my only gay uncle and I am certain not my only gay relative.

During the many trips I made to visit my uncle I never felt threatened by gay people nor pushed to become gay.

Never got confused by sexual desires. Had more than a few women catch my eye but never men. If I felt like anyone was trying to groom me to be anything it would be the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses or Christians who asked me to go to bible study.

Never agreed to any of that nor had any interest in it. I know who I am.

Thought about it in context of being a parent and never worried that my children would be unduly swayed to be one thing or another.

Ok, we went through phases where the younger Mr. Wilner would have become a Jedi or Batman so maybe I should be concerned.

Except I am not. Taught my children that it is ok to be exposed to different ideas and to question their beliefs.

Censorship of most things is anathema to me. In the marketplace of ideas hate won’t win on a large scale.

Given the times censorship is even dumber because we have access to devices with which we can read, review and or watch that which is censored.

Circle back to that busted garbage disposal. I could put a bucket underneath it and pretend nothing is wrong. I could let the small leak drip into it and pretend that I have solved the issue.

Except I know better. I haven’t fixed anything, I have applied a virtual bandage and invited more trouble that will meet me on its terms and not my own.