This is copied from a Facebook post of mine, which I just posted, and which you can find here. I just thought I should share it here, too, for maximum documentation. Read on!
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| My bracelets are clearly visible in many of my self-portraits, since I'm right-handed and wear them on my left! This one clearly shows all three. |
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A Pagan viewer sent me a message with a story of someone giving them literature about Christianity. Asking my thoughts about it, they of course received a long reply with a few personal stories of my own. While writing, it occurred to me that I haven't yet shared this very recent story with you all! So here it is, copied from the message I just sent them in reply (with added paragraph break). Enjoy!
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I'm a server for my day job, and I wear a Pagan Pride wristband to work every day, along with one from the LGBTQ group at my significant other's grad school, and one from the This Star Won't Go Out foundation. Usually people don't comment, but every once in a while, someone will ask me to tell them about my bracelets. I always start with "This is from the LGBT group at my significant other's grad school, and it says 'NO COLOR LEFT BEHIND.'" Then I quickly mention, "This one is from Pagan Pride," and move on to the heart-wrenching story of Esther Earl and the This Star Won't Go Out Foundation. I open with something I think most people are becoming aware of if not accepting, and close with a distracting tear-jerker, attempting to completely bypass any possible conversation that could come from the middle bracelet. And usually this works! Only ONE time, just before or after Christmas this year [2014], did I have a woman stick on the Pagan Pride topic.
It was a table of six middle-aged to older ladies, mostly dressed in festive Christmas attire. I did my usual run-through, and when I said "This one is from Pagan Pride, and this one--" a lady cut me off. "What was that one?" she asked. "Pagan Pride," I repeated, before moving on to TSWGO. At the end of my heart-warming story about Esther's activism, the woman again said, "WHAT Pride?" "Pagan," I responded, matter-of-factly. "What's Pagan?" she asked. Oh, boy. Here we go, and I don't have time for this, LITERALLY, I've got three other tables to get to... As quickly as possible, I said "Paganism is a term for a large group of religious beliefs. It's a long story, I don't really have much time to tell you all about it! Could I warm up your tea while I'm here?" and I got out of there quick! I told my bosses, who know I'm Pagan, about how I wasn't sure how to react since that's the first time anyone ever went back to the subject. I told them how crazy I thought it was that I was comfortable with talking about the LGBT group, but still so wary of revealing that I'm Pagan in my workplace. However, it all played out fine, because apparently those ladies told my bosses that they thought I was the most adorable thing, and that they enjoyed my service. I made it out of that one alright and had no trouble serving them the rest of the day!
Blessings~
-C-
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| Even in this slightly more artistic mirror photo, you can see the tiny bursts of color that are my rainbow, purple, and electric green wristbands. |
I was surprised at how many pictures show my bracelets, once I started focusing on looking for them! How many videos do you regularly spot them in? Now that you're looking, you'll notice more!
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