By and by, the other hundred or so attendees began to arrive, and the photographers circulated among the crowd; within half an hour, there appeared to be something like one journalist for every four guests. I myself was twice asked if I would allow myself to be photographed, most likely because I was dressed in a suit and drinking wine and otherwise behaving like somebody who was actually invited to the party.
By this time, I was no longer worried that the event would be sullied by under-dressed attendees, as is so often the case these days in a New York where formal attire is under perpetual attack by our most rising generation. The only departure from suits and tuxedos was one fellow who looked like a shorter version of Andrew Sullivan and who was wearing an outfit consisting of jeans, a black vest, a pink shirt, and another lime green shirt one underneath the pink one. It’s true society likes to give considerate leeway to stylish gay men who bend the rules or break them altogether insomuch as that they have served as a constant source of innovation in fashion and should thus be allowed to continue to lead the way and incubate trends as they see fit, sort of like the manner in which China permits Hong Kong to operate a purely capitalist economy.
Aside from the preponderance of wealthy something-or-others in attendance, there were also quite a few teenage children of these wealthy something-or-others present, including quite a few 16-year-old boys who were behaving much better than I would have as a sixteen-year-old boy forced to attend a gala. In fact, they even seemed to be enjoying themselves. I do not understand why this is. At any rate, the 16-year-old girls were in their element; I saw two of them, perhaps teen celebrities of some sort, being filmed by an equal number of television cameras as they stood chatting about whatever it is that girls talk about when they’re being filmed by television cameras while pretending not to notice.
After my third glass of wine, I considered making some fake bids on the thousand-dollar handbags that were on display as part of the silent auction going on in the center of the room, but then decided against it. There is something about being among the almost universally well-dressed that compels good behavior. Perhaps that’s why the 16-year-old boys were keeping out of trouble.
Yet at the end of the day you had to give it to those young kids and their bravery, after all raising awareness and bringing medical and spiritual redemption to kids who really need it (the main thrust behind Operation Smile) is always a noble cause, and it was good being there. Who knows, maybe I should have made a bid on one of those handbags.
Go to Scallywag’s Photo Gallery.
