"Oh god, a mundane. Don't let it touch you."

[elfs]

I was on the bus the other day, and as I stood behind the yellow line waiting for my stop, the next stop, I spotted a young man, probably in his early 20's, sitting in the front section of the bus, and he was wearing a tail. Not just any tail, but a big, bushy racoon's tail, clipped to the belt at the back of his pants.

"That's a pretty nice tail."

He looked at me, startled, like I'd just called him something nasty. He shook himself, said, "Thanks," in a very clipped tone.

"No, really. And the shirt. Is that a Michelle Light drawing?"

"Don't know," he said. He wasn't willing to make eye contact.

"Do you know who drew it?"

"No," he said, turning his head even further away. It was that pathetic, short "no" from someone who really doesn't want to talk to you. I felt kinda sorry for him. He'd gotten the courage, or maybe the desperation, up enough to wear his tail in public, and a furry t-shirt, but then he didn't want to talk about it, address it, or be addressed on it. He got off at the same stop I did and very hurriedly walked away.

(Headline explained here, if you didn't recognize it.)

Comments

[athelstan.livejournal.com]

*sighs*

Pride is such a hard thing to learn when all you get is scorn for what you do. Took me about a decade to figure it out.

Too bad you didn't get a picture of a cute tail.

[funos.livejournal.com]

That's a sad ending. Hopefully he'll be less scared in the future.

(I would have thought the shibboleth of an artist's name would have made him less fearful.)

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

He's probably got long experience with being trolled, and his reaction to any unknown person bringing up the subject is to flinch away.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Well clearly you weren't mundane, if you could recognize an artist that he knew. I do find his running off baffling, since wearing a tail and such a shirt is clearly looking for others in the genre.

And I don't think I would have the cajones to wear a tail on a bus.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

Maybe he isn't actually a furry. Maybe he lost a bet. Or it's a hazing thing.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

That makes a lot of sense.

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

My 18 year old cousin is talking about going to Sakuracon and doing "cos-play". She's never been to a con of any kind (and her friend has been to maybe one) and is painfully wannabe. Maybe your bus buddy is equally unaware of what he's playing with and simply saw you as some dirty old man hitting on him. He'd be half right anyway... ;p