Once again no real good ideas for the story title. Maybe that’s normal, I don’t know. So I usually come up with something like the subject line here, which refers to the main character’s dress.
This is a story of a man who has everything going well on his life, seemingly on the surface, but has issues with much of it. His problems may seem small but they weigh heavily on him to the point of breaking. Til one night he goes out, dressed to the nines in his finest tux/suit to the seediest bar he can find to drink himself into oblivion; or into taking action to change course in his life. He doesn’t know which and doesn’t really care.
The most unlikely of strangers however ends up coming to his aid and showing him that everyone has problems with their life, and that’s those precious few good things we each have that we must hold on to, cherish, and think about when we’re down. That we must each do what we have to to get by. Along the way the stranger learns that even those that have a good life can have their own problems, and that while one person’s problems may not seem like much to another, the point is we all have issues we must face.
The man is a gay white man who is partnered and has a well paying job. He’s got a nice car, house, maybe even an adopted kid. The stranger is a thin black female prostitute. His problems seem like the things the spoiled whine about at first: problems with the house, stress at work, relationship issues, family problems, etc. The prostitute decides to drag him along for her night to show him just what hardship is about. As he sees her life unfold including getting beaten up by johns, her kids who must stay home alone in an unsafe neighborhood, her constant exposure to drugs and crime, and more, he gains new hope in seeing how she finds hope and pleasure in her life. In turn she realizes the stress he puts himself under and has allowed himself to be placed in and encourages him to break free of it.