The Forum Diner

Kenny and I had met our "Mr. Right Now's" and were familiar with the local "rent by the hour" love shacks.My favorite was the Evergreen hotel on Paramus Road. They were like little chicken coops. You had your own little one room house and stand up showers. I think it was $18.00 per night.but first we had to go to the FORUM DINER!

My first time at the Forum diner is implanted in my head forever. We,(Kenny and I and out whathisname's)were seated in the raised back area of the diner. Back then it was two levels and gays were put in the back, but we usually liked it that way. Annie was our waitress. Annie was the best and most requested waitress, she looked like Angie Dickenson and snapped that gum as she took your order. She had no problems giving you substitutes and actually trained Carolyn-who worked there up until the closing.Back then gay was so pretentious and gay men threw money around like it was going out of style. They ordered lobster, steaks, shrimp—it was a feast! You definitely had your male and female type gay relationships.The "Butch" paid for everything. I placed my order and went to the bathroom. In the bathroom I found this guy crying. I asked if he was ok and he told me that his boyfriend was cheating on him and he didn't know what to do about it. Me, playing the role of understanding person, talked to him as if we were friends for years providing him with a shoulder to cry on, but as I was comforting him, he was groping me! I was so naive. I told him, "you are touching me in my privates," and he informed me that I was hung. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. If it wasn't for his lover (who I found out didn't cheat on him) coming into the bathroom I don't want to know what would have happened. I slipped out of the bathroom and went back to my table and swore never to go in that bathroom alone again.

That bathroom had more drama than a soap opera. As the years went on I remember we would always meet in the bathroom. We'd go to the diner with our night's date and our friends would be at other tables. We'd meet in the bathroom. One time this fat guy was trying to skip out on a check and got stuck in the window, but that was the Forum diner.

I looked around the diner at all the guys that had earlier been hidden by the dark bar light and noticed for the first time how hot they were; and, how skinny I was. I was determined to fit in I made a deal with myself to join a gym the next day. Gay life was all about muscles and being straight acting back then. Queeny guys got no where. I was determined not to be a queen. I wanted to sit with the cool people. As I looked at my table I realized I had a long way to go.

The FORUM DINER and Manny and Annie and Carolyn and Loretta and her hair! OMG! That place carried so much drama and good times. It was so gay friendly and we would all meet there after the bar closed. Halloween was a riot! The drag-fest continued as everyone would show off their costumes one last time before turning back into guys. The diner was the backdrop for so many moments in Feathers history. Me and Johnny's first , of many, emotional moments happened in the parking lot... Oh, the funniest was one of the last time I went there with my friend Casper. We decided to revisit the place after the bar closed.We were driving and not paying attention when I turned to go into the lot. We imagine my surprise when my car went over a curb! When did they close the route 4 entrance? We laughed so hard. It's funny how when you are with certain friends that full laugh comes back. It's like going back in time and there were so many laughs...

Till Tomorrow- Be kind...

Secret time… Where did the expression "Mer" come from?
There was this little waiter named Gary who used to work at Feathers many years ago, you will hear more about him. He heard me talking to my sister,whose nick-name was Mer, on the phone and thought "Mer" was the funniest thing he had ever heard. We used to have code words for people so we could talk about them and they didn't know we were talking about them. We would watch all these "muscle" guys act like queens, little Marys. Well you couldn't call them "Mary's" because they would know it was an insult. So we would call them Mer's. We knew what we were calling them, but they had no idea. So a "Mer" is a muscle Mary at least that's how we created it. Gary tells the story of how he was at the gym one time and this muscle guy was wasting time on a machine. Gary called him a Mer and he asked, in a thick German accent,

"Is it good to be a Mer?"

Gary smiled and told him, "It is fabulous to be a Mer."

I have to share one more Gary story. Back in the day the muscle guys used to wear the Army tee-shirts. Every time Gary saw one of these guys he would snap his gum and announce, "There goes another mixed up Mary (army)."