Starbucks is my safe place…

I know. Right now you’re thinking, “What?!”

The wife and I are road-tripping down to visit the in-laws in South Carolina, inevitably driving through parts of the country that scare me just a little bit. I grew up in the north, where not everyone totes a shotgun and Dunkin’ Donuts are on every corner. The most backwoods I get is a trip to hike in the white mountains. Even though I’d like to think it wasn’t true, the reality is, once I leave the happy confines of New England, I feel a little more nervous about being openly gay in the rest of the country – especially in the South. That’s where Starbucks comes in… I figure, if they have a Starbucks, the people in that particular town can’t be all that crazy. I mean, I seriously can’t picture Dick Cheney or Karl Rove stopping off at Starbucks for a quick no-fat chai tea latte. You have to be a little bit liberal to set foot in the place. So even though we traveled into the back woods of North Carolina for a quick visit with the wife’s aunt today, I knew we’d be okay when we saw the Starbucks…