2000 Women and 4 Men
Reno, Nevada. Uhm. Okay the women outnumbered the men by one helluva lot, but there were a few men who had the guts to show up to the Romance Writers of America Conference and proudly wear a badge that announced to the world that they were romance writers. It was all good. One guy stood out in my mind. He posts regulary to a loop I belong to, and although there may be other men that lurk, he is the only one that dares to speak up. Needless to say, I'm sure I wasn't alone as I was curiously awaiting the appearance of this fellow, affectionately known to us as "Chuck Lit."
Most of us dressed up or at least wore good shoes to go to our reception, the meeting of the online chapter of this writers group. This time there was no pretense that we were indeed dressing up to impress other women. We knew before we started that there would be one man in attendance and one man only. More than one of us stared at the door waiting for him to show up. We didn't want to jump his bones or anything (maybe someone did but I was not privy to that information), but we couldn't help but be curious.
A bearded older gentleman appeared at the door and our waiting was finally over. The curiousity floating about the room peeked as a whisper washed through the room. People's personalities are often different online and we wanted to know if we were in for the same quip filled encounters we normally got from Chuck in our online encounters. And he didn't disappoint. Group T Shirts were being given out at the door. Chuck got the same question we all had when we arrived.
"What size?"
He paused for what seemed like a long time.
He looked down, then back at the woman asking the question. "Do you have a triple XL?"
The room went silent.
And then a smile spread across his face. "Oh, you meant the shirt."
Chuck was chock full of jokes.
Most of us dressed up or at least wore good shoes to go to our reception, the meeting of the online chapter of this writers group. This time there was no pretense that we were indeed dressing up to impress other women. We knew before we started that there would be one man in attendance and one man only. More than one of us stared at the door waiting for him to show up. We didn't want to jump his bones or anything (maybe someone did but I was not privy to that information), but we couldn't help but be curious.
A bearded older gentleman appeared at the door and our waiting was finally over. The curiousity floating about the room peeked as a whisper washed through the room. People's personalities are often different online and we wanted to know if we were in for the same quip filled encounters we normally got from Chuck in our online encounters. And he didn't disappoint. Group T Shirts were being given out at the door. Chuck got the same question we all had when we arrived.
"What size?"
He paused for what seemed like a long time.
He looked down, then back at the woman asking the question. "Do you have a triple XL?"
The room went silent.
And then a smile spread across his face. "Oh, you meant the shirt."
Chuck was chock full of jokes.
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