What is an alternative lifestyle anymore?

Okay, I like The Spin Cycle Cafe, a combination cafe, bar and laundromat in town.  My newest book, CHICKEN SHACK, which I am in the process of finishing and selling, features a combination funeral home and fried chicken stand, so I like the combination-location idea a lot. 

And I’ve written about The Spin Cycle Cafe before in rather glowing terms.  

So when I saw their tweet advertising The Spin Cycle Cafe’s Alternative Lifestyle Night, I was pleased. 

“Great!  They’re forward thinking!  They’re liberally minded!  They’re tolerant and accepting of all people!  They cater to everyone!”

I was downright happy.

Then I told my wife about the tweet, and she rightly asked, “Does that mean it’s a night for gay and lesbians?  Is homosexuality even considered alternative anymore?”

She’s got a point.  We have gay and lesbian friends and hardly consider their lifestyle to be alternative.  I’ve worked with gay and lesbian individuals before, and some of our friends are married and have kids.  Last Saturday, for example, I spent the afternoon with a gay couple and their infant son, and next month I plan to play golf with one of the guys.  I hardly think of them as alternative.   

So then we got wondering what alternative might mean to the good folks at The Spin Cycle Cafe.  After some debate, we went to The Spin Cycle Cafe’s Facebook page, where we found this image advertising their Alternative Lifestyle Night:  

Some of our initial thoughts about the theme of the night included:

Women have to dress in hopes of appearing in the television series Fame?

Guys trying to resemble Vanilla Ice?

People who love the 1980’s with an extra splash of extra color?

Men who weave excessive lengths of gimp?

Honestly, I still have no idea for whom Alternative Lifestyle Night is targeted.  Are these people supposed to represent the gay and lesbian lifestyle, because they do not resemble any of my gay and lesbian friends.

Don’t get me wrong.  I still love The Spin Cycle Cafe and am pleased to have this business in my hometown.  And I think the idea of an Alternative Lifestyle Night is great, but I’m just not sure what kind of person they are appealing to. 

And I’m not so sure about the messages being conveyed in the above image.

Frankly, I think the place is a lot cooler than this advertisement implies.

I think the only solution is to attend an Alternative Lifestyle Night and find out for myself.

I’ll keep you posted.