A:
I was emailing this guy that I had been sort of electronically introduced to, but never actually met, yesterday
B:
That contractor dude?
A:
Yeah, Thomas something. And I started to say something about him potentially having family or a wife in the area, and then I caught myself, because he might be gay or something, and not have a wife or want one or anything.
B:
What'd you do?
A:
I changed it to "partner." It sounded a little bit like a business partner, but I couldn't think of a better word.
B:
Yeah, there isn't really a word for that yet, I don't think. "Life partner" sounds really hokey.
A:
Yeah, definitely. But, after I changed it, I thought maybe I was being too politically correct or something. But then I thought that I'm sure people did similar things in the 60s or whatever, when they had to consciously force themselves to not assume a 28-year old woman was married, you know? Like, I just take that for granted, like that is sub-conscious. But the conscious frontier, for me at least, is not assuming people are straight.
B:
And, for example, assuming that only two people are in a relationship is still past the conscious boundary?
A:
Yeah, totally. Or like, if I refer to a dude as "he", and then he is like, "Actually, I'm transgendered" or whatever "and I'd prefer to be called 'she'." I'd be totally fine with that and everything, but I wouldn't feel embarassed for assuming, you know? And like in the 60s, they probably wouldn't be embarassed for incorrectly assuming someone is straight, even though they are fine with it.
B:
Sure.
A:
I wonder what the boundary will be for our kids, you know? Is it assuming two, distinct genders? Do you think that'll be the boundary? I don't know, it's kind of neat to think about, what they'll take for granted.
B:
You're married, right?
A:
Yeah, big time.
B:
And you're 27?
A:
26, 27 in March.
B:
Yeah. So maybe it's time to stop thinking about your kids as living in some far-off future.
A:
...
B:
It's not like, "I wonder if their flying cars will be powered by hydrogen or fuel cells?" The questions are probably more like, "Will Obama still be President when they're born? And, if so, will it be his first or second term?"
A:
... Well, women are pregnant for like 40 weeks?
B:
Yeah, roughly.
A:
Great. Then I would consider myself Very Confident that it will not be Obama's first term.