An Almost Epic Fail

Meeting new people in work has been a staple. For the past 4 years or so, I've found myself setting appointments with people referred by referrals. Just recently, this executive of a local conglomerate hosted a meeting and I actually felt quite comfortable with him. Perhaps it's because of him being soft-spoken or the fact that he removed his shoes as soon as he sat down - something I typically do in the office - that made me see myself in him. It was classic mirroring and there was a tug in me that said, "Darc, behold your future!" And so I automatically assumed that he's gay. In fact, I told myself that I'd try to be chummy with him when we meet for the second time.

Then came the second time.

I told a friend about this mirrored self and asked him to look him up over Facebook just to test the veracity of my claim. He looked Mr. Executive up, checked, and replied back with a text message that said: "He's married with a kid." Shortly after that message, one of those we were meeting with pointed to Mr. Executive's laptop and asked, "Whose kid is that?" Mr. Executive replied, "Mine, she's two and a half already. Makulit na nga."

At that point I realized, I almost did a major faux pas. I can't imagine the embarrassment have I tried being chummy with Mr. Executive on the premise that he too is gay. But then, married gay men are a dime a dozen these days, right? But still, I never had the right to trespass that private matter. Anyway, all I could think of after was how happy my Nanay would be as soon as I tell her this episode. Yes, she's still hoping that I'd be married one day, have kids and all that jazz. Her knowing that I saw myself in someone married with a kid would surely feed "those" thoughts... again. Hmmm, getting married and having kids.... hmmm....

NOT.