Teacher Appreciation--Rainbow Style

So this weekend was the Gay Pride Parade in my town. Now let me say that I am not gay, nor proud, but I do hang out under freeways on occasion, so I had the opportunity to...well...get in the way of this weekend's events.

As I leaned against the traffic light and watched the colorful passing of partners, I spotted Nathan.

From seventh period.

And he spotted me.

"Heeeeeyyyyy, Mr. HT! Over heeeerrre!" he yelled. I just froze. Nathan was, you know, all dressed up. Now don't get me wrong; to each his own, but he was screaming my name across a crowded street and then he yelled, "Hey everyone, Mr. HT was my English teacher last year!"

My heart sunk. Everyone turned to look at me. And then they did something I never expected.

They clapped.

Ribbons of all colors and bright boas everywhere waving in the air. All for Nathan's teacher.

Had it come to this? That the most appreciation that I had ever had stemmed from the misunderstanding of me being gay? Well, I don't care because I loved it. I needed the cheers. I needed the applause. I even needed the, "You go Queenie!" People usually cringe or give you that "I'm so sorry" shake of the head when they hear that you are a teacher. These guys celebrated who I was! Sure these kudos came on a technicality, but I'll take what I can get.

Of course I may need a few days to process the whole thing. I'm still not sure how I should take that one guy saying, "If he was my teacher, then I would have never graduated! Ta-Dow!"