I am coming to you live from the Macworld conference in New York, which is as close to a transcendental experience as I have come since the 1993 march on Washington for gay rights. The hallmarks of the two events are similar: both feature an unpopular (but fabulous) segment of society coming together to celebrate and consolidate power. There are, however, differences. The participants in the march on Washington were generally more attractive; the Mac addicts are taking geek chic a tad too far and, on the whole, could do with more sun. The vendors who fed off of the masses in Washington were selling freedom rings, tee shirts, and bottles of water for five dollars; here, they hawk hard drives and solutions for data management, and the water costs only $2.50 a cup. There is also, at Macworld, enough wireless phone radiation to make my hair stand on end, a phenomenon whose time had not yet come in 1993.

What is interesting about events like this is the camaraderie among those in attendance. It is not often I feel like part of a group. I think black people, another largely unpopular (but fabulous) segment of society, may feel this sort of thrill more often. I often notice that black people who do not even know each other will get into conversations, united by the color of their skin. I am jealous of this. Gay people are more dismissive unless those they encounter happen to have enormous biceps or particularly defined abdominal muscles, neither of which I can claim or counterfeit.

I wonder if other groups that meet in convention centers or on the streets of Washington bond so thoroughly upon meeting. If I went into a Christian gathering, for example, would I witness the same effect? I tend to think I would, especially as the flames around my stake really started to catch. I am certain of this result, as the same fate would meet anyone who waltzed into Macworld carrying a Dell laptop; I would be the one who passed around the marshmallows.

So for the moment, I am happy, although I do not believe I will stay too much longer. Being around people who think like me is highly unnerving.