Jim had never been, until recently, an average gay man. He had mostly focused on his career at the University and its mundane and humdrum practices. He loved his subject but most of his time was spent in endless paperwork, recording statistics and teaching a pre- dominantly dumbed down student body. Drastically reduced entry requirements had put paid to Jim’s former exciting career over 15 years ago. He had fantasised during that time about the other options that might be open to him, but he had been brought up to hold back any expectations for career fulfilment, other than a hefty pay packet or true love and his parent’s marriage was most definitely not a good example. The new and transformed life that was only just beginning to unfold made his feelings even more intense, given his decades of self- denial. He often wondered why people sought to control others, so often and with such vehe- mence and why so many people let them get away with it and for so long. The young men who now trashed his looks, his age and his demeanour could not know just how much he had missed out on when he himself was a youngster. He had suppressed all those wonderful urges in an effort to please family members, friends and teachers, being convinced that he must not rock the boat. Jim could not even remember how or why this new seeking for ad- venture began. All he could say was that he had occasionally sent notes to out-of-town strangers when he found himself visiting friends or attending a conference. He would even sometimes sneak off and have sex with them, but it was, as he knew, a dishonest life, unful- filling and not one lived out in the open.
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