Ryan Conklin had been used to picking out the nightclubs for the Real World Brooklyn roommates to visit, but on one occasion he allowed the others to make the selection. After he was told where they would be going that night, Ryan spoke on the phone with his friend Darren to find out what the place is like. Ryan told Darren that the place is called Xes and it is located in the Chelsea area. Darren wasn't familiar with Xes but he knew about Chelsea and he gave Ryan the lowdown. Darren told Ryan that Chelsea is "the" gay district of Manhattan. Upon hearing this information, Ryan hastily scoured his mind to find a clue of how a straight boy was supposed to react to news like that without appearing to be either prejudiced or enthused. His compromise answer: "Oh."
To put the scare in him, Darren asked Ryan if he had ever heard about the "Chelsea boys". He provided Ryan the (erroneous) definition of them being men walking around wearing leather and chaps. Ryan became a little concerned about the visual and then wasn't sure what else to say.
Darren wisely went on to advise, "Don't worry. You'll drink for free all night. Wear your shirt open." Very good and profitable advice. He left out but hopefully Ryan realized that just because you accept a drink doesn't mean you have to put out (unless the drink is more than $10, in which case it's just good manners).
After the call, Ryan immediately told Chet what he had learned about Chelsea, which interestingly Chet sort of already knew about. Ryan warned Chet that with the way that Chet was dressing for the evening, that "they" would "eat you alive." Chet felt he would be okay, but Ryan said that Chet was asking for it. Chet's attitude was that he didn't care because it should mean free Shirley Temples for all of them. Ryan demurred about the STs, but on going to the gay bar he excitedly said, "I'm going! I'm down for, you know, different things, but I'm just letting you know."
It is interesting to see the contrast between the reaction that Ryan gave Darren versus the one he gave to Chet. With his more conservative friends Ryan appears to respond in kind. With someone as flamboyant as Chet, Ryan doesn't mind revealing that he wants to explore the bigger world outside small town Pennsylvania.
Ryan Conklin going out.
