We've been going to the same local deli for sandwiches on Saturday afternoons for at least five years. Like any good sandwich company, the turkey is freshly-roasted and the portions are huge. In fact, Philip and I are such regular customers that we have a close relationship with one of the waitresses, telling her stories about our travels and hobbies while she shares juicy details of her life, like the birth of her new baby and the affair that she has been having on her husband (allegedly in retaliation for his recent cheating on her).

So last Saturday, we stopped in during some last-minute holiday shopping and prepared to have our usual for lunch. The waitress, who is in her late 20s, paused before taking our order and said, "Can I be honest with you? I'm Armenian and we are blunt, so I am just going to say something to you. I have been thinking about you all week. You know, in Armenian culture, being gay is forbidden. If an Armenian male is gay, he does not act on it. I don't know what I would do if my new son turns out to be gay. I couldn't accept it." I was honestly taken aback...this was a person I have been speaking to for years without any hint of homophobia on her part. I said, "Well, I would hope that you would be more tolerant than that - he is your son and you should love him no matter what path his life takes." She shook her head and reiterated that no, she could not accept such a disgusting "lifestyle choice." I countered that if it was such a "choice," a) why I have I felt attracted to males since I was about four years old, and b) why would I "choose" to be gay in a world that ridicules and persecutes me, especially when I grew up seeing nothing but hetero love stories as the acceptable norm?

"Well, I'm just being honest," she said.

I dunno, I could barely swallow my turkey knowing it was handed to me by someone who loathed my very being. I guess I will have to find a place that lets me eat a damn sandwich without a serving of judgement on the side.