"I am a nurse"

Posted Mon, Apr 7, 2003 at 6:49 pm

"I am a male nurse, but, I am not gay. Look how bearded and burly I am. But, despite being a male nurse, I'm really not gay."

-- my television

A couple years back, I posted a troll (note the comp.lang.java.advocacy cross-post) to Usenet entitled 'Verizon: Canadians?' in which I wondered whether, based on the funky-but-clean nature of the Verizon commercials of that time, whether they were shot in Canada or something.

Now, I wonder whether Verizon is holding James Earl Jones against his will.

You've got the one slice-of-life commercial Stay where you wanna go blah sugar blah blah and the other screeching hyper melodramatic one. Then, a brief silent pause. Then, JEJ comes in with "Make progress every day." What the hell is that supposed to mean? Has Verizon been taken over by the Moonies? Have they forced JEJ to wear black Nikes?

Let me make this perfectly clear: I'm not saying all or most male nurses are gay. That is, however, a perception that many people have. I am not validating that perception, just saying that it exists. And, I am pointing out that in these "I am a nurse" commercials, they seem to have gone out of their way to show inarguably heterosexual male nurses.