playing it straight

I noticed that whenever I go to work on my car, I put on my jean jacket. That may be because I don't want to get any of my other jackets dirty but it might also be because I want to look the part like a straight man. There aren't very many queer mechanics around. If there are, they don't have calendars of half-naked men hanging in their lobby. They keep it nice and quiet.
I think I'd pay twice as much for car repair if the mechanic was an out queer guy.

Earlier this week, a tire went flat on my car. I avoided driving until today when I had time to check it out. After filling it up a bit at home and then more at the gas station, I realized that there was a large nail sticking out of the sidewall. When I find the bastard that did this, I am going to b-word slap them to Christmas. But in the meantime, I had to get it fixed. As long as I didn't pull the nail out, it would hold air long enough to get me to the tire shop Ashes uses.

Before going, I checked my wardrobe. When I was there, I made sure not to pull out my phone or limp-wrist it. I normally HATE it when people assume that I'm straight but I didn't want to get taken advantage of (financially) so I played the part of an auntie tom and got it done. I've never experienced any homophobia from these guys when I've went there with Ashes but I was being cautious. If I knew more about cars, I could be a little less defensive but I don't. As it was, two of the guys there mumbled horribly, like Boomhauer mumbling. I had to look to a third guy to translate and then he spoke car lingo so I still didn't have any clue. I heard $25 and one of them showed me a decent looking tire so I said "That's good!" and I went and waited in the lobby, underneath a picture of Miss November in a bikini.