ABSTRACT
I had always wanted an earring. I had seen people at w ork wearing them, and
these guys were married. I thought, “I want an earring,” so I went and got one.
I went to work, and the next thing you know I was picked on. A lieutenant
started really picking on me about it. He w ould say, “Jimm y must be gay
because he’s got an earring.” So I would turn around and say, “Why don’t you
say that to the lieutenant over there who’s got two of them.” They’d say, “He’s
m arried.” Big deal. I saw a lot of officers w ith them, so I didn’t think anything
of it. Then the food service director told me to leave it at home and not wear
it. I asked a couple officers, “Can the food service director tell me to leave this
at home?” And they said, “No.” So I told him, “You can’t tell me to take it out
of my ear. It ’s not in the rule book so I can wear it.” He turned around and said,
“I don’t care what you do in private, being a fag or whatever, but you're going
to leave it at home.”
