Yes although no one actually cared about me just what entertainment I provided. I was the only openly gay dude for miles. People pretended to actually like me but they just liked being able to say they had a gay friend or liked the novelty of me or whatever. Not a single person knew anything about me other than the fact that I was gay. I’ve met some of them since and they didn’t even recognize me. Like clear recollections of everyone else but then “Who are you?”

Lesson learned real young that people don’t often care about you. Just what you can provide. Once that’s used up…

And when I say popular I do mean it. I don’t want to sound arrogant but I got constant invites and offers, especially from deeply closeted sports dudes. And it wasn’t just with classmates. Teachers often liked me because I also paid attention and was a bit of a nerd and able to riff without going overboard. What a shocker that I ended up doing stand up