This week, we had the honor and privilege to visit and interact with the patrons of The Center in Hillcrest, a vibrant LGBTQ+ resource epicenter that we had previously visited for our Hillcrest NAP. As always, the staff and patrons were extremely welcoming and considerate. Right off the bat, I had a good chance to speak with the two individuals already at my table. One had a long and varied career in the Navy, with psychiatry, and then finally as a hairdresser (which was evident given their amazingly coiffed hair). The other had worked as a registered nurse for a majority of their lives and had recently taken a position at Macy’s for a slower pace. Being interested in nursing as a career, it was extremely valuable to me to talk to someone with their amount of experience in the field, and their outlook on retired life nowadays (not squandering their time, always seeing friends or doing things they want to do). After lunch was served, another individual joined my table, one that offered their views on the intergenerational divide. To be completely honest, I was taken aback at first; they were very direct and set on a pro-capitalistic/bootstraps-ideology stance while criticizing younger, left-leaning generations. It was definitely a hard conversation (especially when I was trying to half-gracefully eat beef and broccoli at the same time) and I had trouble bringing the conversation back to the entire table due to the rapidly-fire pseudo-interrogation from the third individual. In the end, it was a valuable conversation as it was a reminder that there is a spectrum of thought and ideology outside of my own sphere, and even in my own LGBTQ+ community. I think the only regret I had was not talking more to the first two individuals, but I do hope that I can get more readily involved in The Center and meet them again!
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Andrew NguyenWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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