Like the Virgin of Guadalupe, but for Musical Theater
I live near the BART station in the Mission, so I'm (unfortunately) used to seeing (and dodging) the less pleasant parts of city life there; panhandling, the drug trade, the probably-stolen goods for sale sitting on blankets on the street, the slightly insane ramblings. I meet them all with a cold face and a curt "No."
Last night a slightly older white man wearing a cravat came towards me as I was dodging the mostly-illegal flea market on 16th Street. The cravat threw me a little. He held a plastic grocery bag in one hand and a picture frame in the other. He held it out to me as if offering it for sale and I instinctively started to deflect. Then, in a slightly higher register and a lisp, he made his sales pitch. "Judy Garland? Mickey Rooney?" It seemed like he was selling them as Icons, only instead of Jesus and Mary poorly silkscreened with Spanish and English prayers these were black and white photos of the stars of the Andy Hardy movies.
It occurred to me: I've been panhandled before, but I think I had just been gay-handled…