Parading One's Sexual Orientation

Now here is a touchy subject that grinds my gears nonetheless, people parading their sexual orientation. I'm not promoting one sexual orientation over the other. What I'm doing here is expressing my complete dislike for those who parade their sexual orientation as if other people give a crap!

I really, and I mean really, do not care what the sexual orientation of the person in front of me in line at Wal-Mart is. I could care less whether my co-workers are heterosexual, homosexual or bi. As I go about my day minding my own business, I expect all others to do the same. I live my life as my own logic and common sense tells me. I want others to do the same.

However, when someone gets up in my face and tells me all kinds of junk about their private life, I have a problem. When I'm going about my day, respecting those around me with the maximum amount of respect that one can give, it really ticks me off when one demands extra respect because of how they choose to live. In fact, I'm more likely to, out of spite, respect someone less for childishly shoving their lifestyle up in my face.

Here is an example. If I was wearing a shirt that I really liked, which instance would I get the most negative attention?

1. I just go about my day as normal, feeling energetic and confident in this shirt that suits my personal interests, or
2. I walk around demanding everyone else to look at my shirt and to like and approve of my shirt.

In the first case I would be personally happy and everyone else would totally respect me, perhaps even noticing the spring in my step which would lead them to asking me why I have such spring. In the second case I'm being an idiot and forcing myself onto everyone, which would undoutedly show me as being obnoxious and stupid. In this second case, people who would otherwise be fine with my shirt would actually be turned against it due to my being pushy.

I also don't like it when people try to be cryptic in their harralding of such things. Something like, "You say your dog died? That's funny, I saw a dead dog the other day after buying this great shirt that I'm wearing now." If someone must bring it up in every conversation or walk in a parade to show it off, one must ask if this just isn't a desperate cry for attention.

So the moral of this story is this: If no one likes your shirt, it may be because you won't shut up about it! It grinds my gears when people insist that I approve of what they do behind closed doors when I really don't give a mouse's mule.