“Oh, I’ve been a cashier here for some 5 years now, going on 6, but just part-time at this Safeway. Working in Financial District pays more – even though I do this commute from Hayward, it’s worth it. I also do performances at local theaters – musicals, you know? I sing, yeah, and I dance and act. That’s been my life since I was in high school. I was one of those theater kids, you know? I mean, I guess I still am, but the actors life is hard. I’m still not equity, no health insurance, and no guarantee I’ll get a gig, but I love it. It’s my passion and I know I have to do it because if I don’t, I’m not being true to myself, you know. My truest self is when I’m on that stage performing for all these people. That’s probably funny that that is my truest self, since I’m acting as a different character but really, that’s when I feel most alive. I recently did this one musical out in El Cerrito – Allegiance, have you heard of it? It’s a story about Japanese internment during World War II. George Takei wrote it. I played one of the Japanese prisoners, a minor role, but I got to learn how to hold one of those old-timey guns while also dancing! [laughs] It’s funny because all the male cast are gay, including me, so it’s just a bunch of gay men pretending to know how to work a gun [laughs]. Ah, crap you got me talking so much, I got distracted. I rang up red cabbage instead – that has to be voided. Gotta call my manager over, I’ll be right back, okay?”
