Come and knock on my door...

Who doesn't love Three's Company? Really. If you can't appreciate the show, you can at least savor the contribution it's made to popular culture. I'm not talking about DeWitt's haircut (which is actually starting to look suspiciously close to my hair style currently).

What I speak of is the cataclysmic misunderstanding. One misinterpreted word, or one unseen gesture, or one malapropism from Suzanne Somers is enough to launch Mr. and Mrs. Roper into a 22 minute tizzy, or Don Knotts into innumerable eye-bulging conversations with Tripper about this and/or that.

I joke a lot about this sort of misunderstanding... but I've rarely experienced it. Until recently. Allow me to present the same conversation from two angles. One is from mine, and one is from Morpheus.

Background: Morpheus and I were hanging out in Lower Queen Anne at the end of the night. It was about 2 AM. I was totally sober because of the odd (if not unpleasant) night I'd had. Morpheus was not sober, and neither was Dundee, a buddy whose girlfriend is a friend of mine. Dundee happened to be staggering down the sidewalk, working his way towards his gf's place, when this occurred. Note the difference between how I saw it and how Morpheus (and probably Dundee) saw it.

Dundee: I know these faces!
Me: What up, man?
Morpheus: Hey!
Dundee: Where were you guys tonight? I actually sang a song and I was looking for you...
Me: What did you sing?
Dundee: Some INXS.
Me: Nice.
Dundee: So where were you guys?
Me: I was on a date.
Dundee: Ah... how did it go?
Me: Pretty well *shrug* It was fun.
Dundee: (giving us each a manly shoulder squeeze) I hope you guys had fun tonight. I'll catch you later.
Morpheus: Bye.
Me: Later!

OK. So that seemed routine, right? Nothing untoward?

Immediately... immediately Morpheus politely asked me not to look at him when telling people I was on a date. Hah! Here's how HE might have heard the conversation:

Dundee: I know these faces!
Me: What up, man?
Morpheus: Hay-ay!
Dundee: Where were you guys tonight? I actually sang a song and I was looking for you...
Me: What did you sing?
Dundee: Some INXS.
Me: Nice.
Dundee: So where were you guys?
Me: (looking at Morpheus) On a date.
Dundee: Ah ("these guys are gay? Woah")... how did it go?
Morpheus: (Why the fuck was Ed O looking at me and implying we went on a date? Do I say something to correct the record?)
Me: Pretty well *shrug* It was fun.
Dundee: (giving us each a manly shoulder squeeze) I hope you guys had fun tonight ("I can't wait to tell the folks back home that I met a couple real-life gays here in the States!"). I'll catch you later.
Morpheus: Bye.
Me: Later!

Maybe Morpheus was projecting. Or maybe Dundee already thought we were gay. I love Dundee (in a platonic, isn't-his-accent-making-me-so-jealous, kind of way) and hope that, should he think Morpheus and I are together, at least he thinks we're a cute couple.