Charlie and Dick’s Big Boston Pride Day Adventure
It was a sunny June day, and Dick Bulger was feeling extra frisky. He’d donned his “I Love Roast Beef” crop top, a pair of cargo shorts that had seen better days, and an old Red Sox cap with a rainbow pin he found in the gutter. Charlie, on the other hand, was sporting his vintage CB radio operator vest—complete with a patch that read “Channel 38 & Proud”—and a pair of neon pink Crocs.
They were headed to Boston’s Pride Day, which Dick mistakenly thought was a festival for “pride of ownership” in used ham radios. When Charlie explained it was actually a celebration of LGBTQ+ pride, Dick shrugged, took a long sip from his Michelob can, and said, “Well hell, they got music and glitter. I’m in.”
The two set off in Dick’s rusted-out 1987 Buick Regal—complete with a rainbow flag duct-taped to the antenna. Dick’s bumper sticker read “LEGALIZE CLAMS,” though Charlie kept telling him that made no sense.
When they arrived, the parade was in full swing. Drag queens were throwing glitter like confetti cannons, and rainbow flags waved proudly. Dick, never one to be subtle, spotted a guy in a leather harness and shouted, “Hey buddy! Where’d ya get that? I need one to hold my ham radio while I do pushups!”
Charlie tried to blend in, but it was hard when Dick decided to enter the dance-off with a very enthusiastic attempt at the worm. Mid-move, his cargo shorts gave up on life and split right down the middle, revealing boxers covered in cartoon bacon strips.
Undeterred, Dick grabbed a bubble gun from a nearby vendor and proceeded to “bless” everyone within a 30-foot radius with bacon-scented bubbles. “IT’S THE BUBBLE OF FREEDOM!” he hollered. Charlie pretended not to know him, but everyone else cheered and thought it was part of the show.
By the end of the day, Dick and Charlie were covered in glitter, sunburnt, and somehow each holding a stray balloon animal. “Well, Charlie,” Dick said as they wobbled back to the Buick, “I came for ham radio pride and I left with a drag queen’s phone number and a free rainbow wig. What a day!”
Charlie nodded, grinning. “Only you could turn Pride Day into a ham radio jamboree.”
And as they drove off into the Boston sunset, Dick belched and declared, “Next year, we’re bringing the CBs and setting up a ‘Channel 38 After-Party’ right next to the disco float!”