I am very much a heterosexual person. I have no problem whatsoever with homosexuality, I was around it during my childhood and never judge anyone based on their personal preference. Actually, I could write a whole book about my childhood, but, we'll keep this blog based on racetrack stories. I will say this though. I think I may be more open minded and accepting of different lifestyles because I was exposed to so much growing up. That being said, let me tell you a few stories...
I think the first gay guy to hit on me was Leroy who was sooo much fun to hang out with up at Vernon Downs. I think he worked for Popfinger at the time, and he was just flamboyant about it. He would even dress in drag sometimes and looked fabulous! We used to play pick up softball games and there was no better athlete on the field. He used to just torment me saying stuff like "Come on over here and warm me up Randy!" or other pick up lines that most guys would use on a girl at a bar. It was a little uncomfortable, but, I would always just laugh it off since he was just talking crap anyway!
We got to the South Florida Trotting Center and there was a guy working for Garnsey named John. He was very nice, clean cut, and drove a big pickup truck. He had been separated or divorced and was in Florida from the mid-west I think. Since I only had a bicycle it was handy to go to the laundromat or store with John, and, we became friends. One night he asked me if I'd like to get off the farm and go catch a movie. "Great idea" I said, so away we went. The movie house he took me to was nothing like the one in Vermont! There were XXX's on the front of the building and the movie was pretty graphic. I sat through it, and he didn't do anything inappropriate, so that was that. We went to Pompano at the same time(He rubbed Armbro Aussie for the big Cam Fella race), and the girls from Continental were all over him every day! He didn't like it as much as I might have and would never succumb to their advances. Finally, he came out of the closet in hopes of getting one girl in particular to back off. She went the other way and took it as a challenge to get him to jump back over the fence! One night we all got drunk at The Greenbrier and the girl, Tracy, got him into her bed. She wound up very disappointed and with her ego taking a hit when John had a case of E.D. and that ended that!
There was another openly gay guy working for us in the mornings and he was a male dancer at night. His name was Frank, and he tried desperately to teach me some dance moves. Unfortunately, I dance like Steve Martin in the opening scene of the movie "The Jerk"! He was great fun to work with, and one day we all decided to go to the beach. I only had shorts, but, no bathing suit. Frank said "no problem, I'll lend you one." The one he lent me was one of those "banana hammocks" and I didn't feel very comfortable wearing it to say the least! It must have looked okay in it though, I got lots of compliments from the guys!;)
The last guy I'll tell you about is an older gentleman named Dennis who worked for Dr. Lee. He started coming by the barn at the Trotting Center and just loved to talk and tell stories. When we moved to Pompano he'd come by every Sunday and take a few of us to IHOP for breakfast. When you are clearing $160.00 per week a free breakfast on Sunday is awesome! We became friendly and he found out I like to shoot pool. At least once a week he'd come pick me up, buy me dinner, and then we'd go shoot some pool.(I didn't win often, he was a shark!)As the winter changed to spring he must have been getting impatient; so, he made a point to tell me on the way home one night, to the penny, how much he had spent on me during the year! I don't even remember how I responded or what I said; and, he never made any moves on me, but, it sure made me feel queezy! We did stay in touch via telephone and with the odd letter after I shipped out of Florida for over a year or two. I distinctly remember our last conversation. he called me while I was stabled at Brandywine and working for Jimmy Campbell. I was very excited to tell him the big news that I was engaged to Karen, and though it was going to be a long engagement, we would be married in 1988! He was soooo pissed off I couldn't believe it was him on the other end of the phone. Years later I finally found out that he was gay....duh, naive me!!
I actually met Karen for the first time at Pompano. She was down on vacation from NJ and stopped by the barn to visit Vicki Wright(the famous photographer and great caretaker of racehorses!). They invited me out one night, but, I was a party pooper and elected not to go.
Speaking of Vicki(and this is the last story of this chapter), she was pretty green in those days. She was very willing to learn, and had some experience working for her boyfriend Jack at the Meadowlands. She was next to me in the shed row, so whenever she had a question, she came to me with it. One day she comes running into my stall in a panic, "Dirt Band is having a heart attack or something!" I go check it out and all Dirt band was having was a "happy ending"! His hormones were raging at that time and he found out how to make himself happy the way horses will do. At the precise moment that he was finishing up he was stomping his back feet on the ground in sheer ecstacy and our girl "Vickers" mistook it for a heart attack! When the trainers were figuring out where everyone was going from Pompano they came up with Roosevelt Raceway as our destination. Vicki was thrilled at the prospect of being there so close to her lover Jack! The day before we shipped there was a change of plans and we were to go to Brandywine Raceway in Delaware instead. Vicki was livid and she just ran around ranting and raving and she came up with the famous saying "Brandyfuckingwine??Where the hell is Brandyfuckingwine??" It all worked out since it was still only a two hour ride to the Meadowlands from there.
These stories will have to hold you till the weekend since I'm driving out of Florida tomorrow. Talk to you soon...RT
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