Anderson, Indiana.
The old Walmart was the scene of strange activity....
submitted by eyewitness Wild at Heart.
3:33 am Sunday morning...
I suddenly sat up straight in bed, startled out of a deep sleep
for no apparent reason.
It was strange how vividly awake and aware I felt.
I knew that there would be no more sleep.
I wondered what was going on. I felt a visceral sense of urgency.
I dressed quickly and headed downstairs, wondering what I would do
with all that time.
Once downstairs, I felt an urge to get into my car and drive to town,
an unlikely thing to do on a chill winter night.
I felt rushed along- hurried out of my own house.
I was a bit disgruntled getting ejected from my warm bed
and cozy home at such an early hour.
Once I was driving, I tried to figure out where I would go.
Let's see...what was open? A couple of 24 hr. restaurants,
a few gas stations and Walmart.
I had no desire to eat, no desire to shop, but I felt a slight leaning
toward Walmart.
What would I do there? There was nothing that I needed...
Then it kind of hit me. 'Well...one always needs new underwear...'
When I got to Walmart, I parked amid a scant handful of cars
and headed inside.
It was predictably deserted at that hour.
I made my way across the store to ladies lingerie.
What I found there proved to be anything but predictable...
There was a veritable swarm of men!
They had commandeered the whole department!
I slowed way down trying to take in the scene.
There were 10 or 12 men, ranging from about 16 years old to 80.
They were fanned out among the racks of bras and panties...
They circled slowly, lingering in a curious way...not speaking to one another.
However, I soon realized that there was plenty of communication
of another kind...
I spied one young man running his fingers slowly along the lines of a lacy black bra while gazing seductively over his shoulder at a middle-aged man.
Another man was twerking panties over his backside while trying to capture the attention of another man who was vying for yet another mans attention.
They were all preening and prancing around in an awkward little dance of male seduction. Ugh!
What was more concerning were the wedding bands that most of them wore.
I wondered about the wives and children who slept innocently in their beds while their husbands and fathers were trolling the lingerie aisles at Walmart at this ungodly hour.
Ungodly, indeed...
I decided to approach the area anyway, not willing to be intimidated by them.
It WAS the women's section, after all.
But when I was discovered, I felt what can only be described as a force field surrounding them. It almost knocked me backwards.
I was NOT wanted there.
And they were NOT about to give up their space or their game.
They were defiant and highly annoyed that a woman would step into what was now their domain. I endured several very hateful, angry glares.
They were furious at having their game intruded upon.
I walked away, but soon decided to double back in an inconspicuous way.
It was all clear to me now...
Why I had been woken from sleep, urged to dress and drive to Walmart
to get undies, of all things...
What was I to make of what I encountered?
I continued to watch them from behind a pillar.
This was definitely gay behavior, but there was something about them
that didn't fit the scene.
I have lived in NYC and Atlanta and had seen plenty of the lifestyle
and the players.
They didn't have the look, somehow...
On the other hand, they were all curiously uniform in their appearance.
There was something about their stilted manner...
They HAD a 'look'.
Short flattop haircuts, Sunday morning suits, polished shoes,
faintly effeminate personas-the emasculated pseudo-Christian.
It hit me. They had an unmistakable look, alright!
They had the conservative evangelical Christian look.
My stomach twisted...
Leading double lives...in this tawdry display at Walmart.
I could hear them as they left their beds that morning...'Sleep in, dear.
I'll go get the Sunday paper, orange juice and doughnuts. Home soon!'
I waited, I watched and then I'd had enough.
I marched into the department, uttered a few choice words and chased
them out. I broke up their party, blasted them out of their trances
and scattered them in all directions, shaming them all the way.
They were incensed, irate!
I didn't care.
I wasn't done with them.
I gave them no opportunity to regroup...this show was over!
Then they acted indignant-suddenly innocent and above reproach!
They finally started leaving the store, heads hung glumly.
I monitored the escape route, heading to the aisles that held
orange juice, milk and doughnuts.
There I found the last little huddle of 2 elderly males toying
with a teenage boy.
When I stepped between them and asked them which church they attended, they dropped their things and bolted.
Debra Robinson All rights reserved