My boyfriend and I have a good friend who has recently come out of the closet. He’s been very good friends with my boyfriend for a few years now, and we’re extremely happy that he’s finally figured it all out.
He’s recently moved in with his boyfriend, and they’re having a party. Lots of friends and family will be there, and they all know what’s going on.
My question is: would it be inappropriate to give him a toaster? I don’t know how universal the whole ‘you get a toaster now’ thing is, but we were going to explain it to him if he doesn’t get it off the bat. I mean, it’s kind of a ‘house-warming/coming out’ party, so a toaster is kind of appropriate, right?
We love this boy. We just want to give him a good laugh and let him know that whatever he decides to do with his life is A-OK with us.
If he gets it, it would be funny (although I belive the more widely understood version is a toaster-oven). If he doesn’t get it, no harm no foul. He may well not get it if he is only very newly out, there is a hell of a lot of queer culture to “learn”. Surely tho, wouldn’t it be the boyf or whoever brought him out that gets the toaster/toaster oven?
Fun idea tho
Ahh. I knew I’d get part of it wrong. A toaster oven.
Well, I guess that would be much handier. (Handier, is that a word?)
The boyfriend basically wanted to make sure there wasn’t any kind of bad connotation associated with giving someone a toaster. (I tried to explain that in the past banks gave you a toaster or some such thing when you opened a new account.)
I mentioned on another thread about giving Evilscott a toaster for his upcoming Gay wedding and another poster snipped, “they probably already have one.” Some people don’t get the joke.
Yes, getting a toaster is the proverbial wedding gift. I think I read here on the boards that one office group of people got together and EVERYONE brought a WalMart toaster to a co-worker’s wedding reception - something like 35 of them. (They kept their receipts and the idea was for the couple to return all of them and get what they needed.)
As a Gay man, I think the toaster idea is funny and nice…or you could always go for the classic, “His and His” bathtowels.
The joke, from the “coming out” episode of Ellen, is that after each gay person recruits a certain quota, the recruiter wins a toaster oven. The closing scene of the episode is Laura Dern’s character (to whom Ellen’s character, Ellen, came out first) getting her toaster oven for recruiting Ellen from Melissa Etheridge.
Regardless of the humor, a toaster oven is a lovely housewarming gift. I wouldn’t be the slightest bit offended at receiving one.
The toaster joke is older than Ellen. She was simply incorporating it into the show. I’ve always figured that the toaster joke is a play off the the way that banks used to give gifts (especially toasters) to people who opened new accounts.
A toster oven is a counter top appliance that is kind of like a mini oven. You can make toast in it or you can cook a chiken. The multipurpose appliance.
BRAVO! <clapping>
Thank you everyone for making me laugh.
BTW, I do agree that even if he doesn’t get it, it’s a great gift, and seems like someone should get the joke.
