Acquired Tastes Chapter XXI: Glory Holes

Introduction

Is there anything more iconic for gay men than the glory hole?  With a wicked wink of the eye, 'Family Guy', 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia', and 'The Soup' have made numerous sly references to them, so they are hardly a well-kept secret anymore.  In light of that, one could say they've gone mainstream.  Not that such acceptance has translated into abundance, for they remain rare denizens of only the most tolerant adult bookstores, truck stops, and public restrooms.  Yes, they are a common feature at most bath houses, but in such an environment a certain level of convenience and sense of deviance becomes lost; elements that would seem to be important to the glory hole's very essence and justify their existence.  Getting away with something wicked is fun!  And if that something wicked takes place on the sly and in an environment where such sexual expression could only be termed non-traditional, then the experience is heightened (for some) even more. 

So, let's now get down on our collective knees in the dark, lean a bit forward, and take a closer look through and at...

Glory Holes  

Scope of Activity

To engage in sexual activity utilizing a glory hole.  A  glory hole may be described as 'a hip-high hole drilled, punched or filed in a wall between stalls in a public restroom or adult bookstore peepshow; through this hole one man will insert his penis for sexual contact with another person, though anal and vaginal sex may also take place through the hole.'  For the sake of this post, we will be focusing on male to male sexual contact. 

The Official Line

From Wikipedia:

To use a glory hole a man puts his finger through the hole to indicate interest in sexual activity.  If the other party is interested, he will accept the offer and put his penis through the hole to be serviced. The most common activity is oral sex, and to a lesser extent anal intercourse, a handjob, or vaginal intercourse. Glory holes are today most commonly found in established adult video/bookstore arcades, sex clubs, gay bathhouses, and adult theaters.

If a glory hole is found between two booths in a video booth at an adult bookstore, the person who wishes to perform oral sex will normally be seated in a booth. The seated (and sometimes kneeling) position commonly signals to others that they are there in order to perform oral sex – which allows those who wish to receive oral sex to take the adjoining booth. That second person will normally remain standing.

Psychological Aspects

Anonymity:

Anonymous encounters are a real turn on for some. What's more anonymous than being separated by a wall?  Sure, you could meet your sexual partner outside the booth and then lure them in, or take a peek through the hole before getting down to business (a glory hole etiquette no-no), but some dudes really get off on the idea of having no idea who they are sucking off. The lack of physical contact with your sexual partner ensures discretion, and while sexual satisfaction may be achieved, both parties are able to walk away from the experience without any knowledge of the other - not even being able to recognize them should they meet at a later time.

Lack of Intimacy:

This is the epitome of NSA (No Strings Attached) Fun.  Names are rarely exchanged, hell, it's rare that the sucker even gets the opportunity to see the suckee's face, so the likelihood of any type of prolonged relationship is extremely slight.  Each walks away with a limited sense of the actual physical condition or characteristics of the other person.  

Convenience/Simplicity: 

Such encounters certainly boil sex down to its most basic elements: penis and hole.  And if it is a busy location known for this type of activity, then it's really no different than stopping at the local convenience store to pick up a 'slurpy' (which, when you think of it, would make an excellent slang term for a nice, wet blow job).  This is the ideal 'Cum N Go' experience; insert penis into hole, receive service, orgasm achieved, zip up and exit.  No muss, no fuss (though a little clean-up work may be recommended and/or required).  And this is also why real glory holes (as opposed to those manufactured in bath house settings) are located in such transient places such as public restrooms and truck stops.  These locations attract individuals who are just stopping by or blowing thru (pun intended) and typically do not represent any other facet of their life. 

Covering Up Physical Shortcomings:

What you can't see can't turn you off.  This of course works both ways.  In a true glory hole experience, neither party has any idea what the other looks like - so if you are overweight, horribly thin, old, out-of-shape, ugly, have big ears, a misshapen nose, or in any way do not meet society's typical notions of what constitutes physical attractiveness - it matters not.  If you have the skills to suck and/or a penis that gets hard, you're in business, buster.  

Precautions

The rim of the actual glory hole, due to use, improper maintenance, or poor construction, can lead to a number of issues.  Pressing one's face and mouth against the surface or edging of the glory hole can put you in direct contact with former occupants' saliva and bodily fluids.  If the hole is made of metal and features jagged edges, or plywood and features un-sanded edges, the pressing of your lips and face against these surfaces in an aggressive manner can lead to possible skin irritation and abrasions, thus making one more susceptible to whatever STD might have been left behind by previous users.  This is also true for the dude sticking his penis through the hole; as such irritation and skin abrasions may occur anywhere in the groin region that comes in contact with the edges of the glory hole. True glory holes are often hastily and crudely constructed, therefore, such safety considerations are not high on the creator's priority list.  

Then there is also actual STD transmission that could occur participant to participant.  A visual physical inventory of an anonymous sexual partner is no guarantee of weeding out those with STDs.  But when considering those that frequent glory holes - either as suckers or suckees - you have to keep in mind that this type of activity on an on-going basis likely magnifies one's possibility of contracting or having contracted something (herpes, gonorrhea) when engaging in this type of activity.  That sucker on the other side of the hole could have been there for a number of hours before you happened on him. Who knows how many loads he's swallowed before you arrived or just how chafed his chin and lip areas have become as a result of on-going contact with that glory hole.  And, for the sucker - the person on the other side could have any number of STDs, including HIV and syphilis - you have no idea where that beautiful, hard cock jutting through that hole has been. 

Sex in public remains illegal.  You get caught in the act or snagged during a police sting operation and you can find yourself with legal headaches that may include court appearances, fines.  Plus you run the risk of having your name and/or picture planted in the local newspaper or on that night's local newscast which could result in possible damage to your reputation (unless your reputation is that of a cock-sucking slut) and being ostracized by society (not always a bad thing).  

Etiquette

·     For reasons of personal safety, as well as etiquette, men typically wait for a signal from the receptive partner to come through the hole before inserting any part of their genitals through a glory hole.

·     No peeking.  It's bad form and can ruin the experience for the dude on the other side of that wall. 

·     Don't offer up your ass unless asked, or if that is the only thing you're interested in doing.  Anal sex is usually something that does not occur until after oral sex and usually only at the bidding of the active partner.

My Experience

My personal experience if very limited. Those few encounters that I have had, have already been shared in past posts, but will be revisited now, for the sake of this post

The first glory hole I ever saw was in a restroom in Austin, MN when I was 13 or 14 years old.  I had no idea what it was.  I'd gone to this restroom with the expressed intent of jerking off; an activity that I had only recently taken up, yet had already discovered the privacy afforded one in a bathroom stall.  Plopping my ass on the can, I lost no time, but stopped short once I noted the odd, large hole that had been created between my stall and the one adjoining.  I realized almost immediately that there was someone in the next stall, so I decided to risk a peek.  Even before I was able to see anything, two fingers came through the hole.  Well, I shot alright... I shot right out of there.  My heart was racing and I had no idea what I'd just been a part of, but it intrigued me.

I never revisited that restroom.  Odd, huh?

I have played with glory holes at bath houses.  At the local warehouse party they have plywood stand-alone booths.  Once, early in the evening, I knelt outside one and boing!, there appeared a nice sizeable dick.  So I sucked on it.  Six dicks later, I had a return visit from the first dude.  Then something came through the hole that did not please my eye and that was it.  I was done.  Did any of them cum?  No.  It was early in the evening and, I think, in such settings being serviced through a glory hole is akin to appetizers being served and consumed at a party with a more substantial meal in the offing later in the proceedings.  Still, this was a reverse glory hole situation - others could see me sucking dick and the suckee was cloaked in anonymity.

So, for the purposes of this article (right - wink, wink), I journeyed back to the warehouse last Friday and decided that I would take up residence inside one of the booths to experience the true glory behind the hole.

These booths: they have three sides, are eight feet high and about five feet wide, made out of plywood that has been painted black, and have a five inch diameter hole cut into the three sides.  They change things up at the warehouse all the time and I had not been back since last July.  The booths are housed in one of the main rooms in the basement.  This week they had them set up where they were separated by a kind of twelve foot fuck bed, with one of the holes facing the bed.  That was a little disappointing, as it meant anyone walking around the perimeter of the room could see me inside the box, but you work with what you got, am I right?  I set up camp, bringing my full fuck bag with me - mouth wash, wet wipes, poppers, lube, lip balm, first aid kit, etc.  Wearing only my Pistol Pete jock, cap, and kick-ass leather boots, I squatted down and placed my hands in two of the holes.  (Note – squatting in a glory hole?  Hard on the knees and thighs.  Be sure to take breaks and stretch.  I had to.) Through the third one I watched whatever was taking place on the fuck bed. 

I had assumed because it was so early that I would have to wait.  I watched as this really cute dude with a full head of hair and a killer, hairless body posed and stretched his stuff on top of the fuck bed.  He reminded me of a stripper on a pole.  Sure enough, two balding eagles soon landed and began to fuck the shit out of his hole every which way they could. It was fun to watch because the kid was really cute and an exceptional bottom boy, arching his back and stretching his ligaments to their greatest advantage.  So mesmerizing were his antics that it shocked the hell out of me when I happen to turn to the right and discover an appendage sticking though the hole awaiting service.  I fell upon it and immediately felt awkward and uncoordinated. 

It was odd.  Sucking dick?  Something I pride myself on.  I have skills.  However, take away access to the other parts of the suckee's body and I suddenly found myself rapidly recalculating my attack.  It took some getting used to.  Normally there are balls and the dude's ass, his feet, thighs and calves to hang onto.  Feeling like I was in a boat without a paddle, it took me a while to get used to using the plywood wall for leverage.  Not that my mouth seemed to notice - it went on auto pilot, working its way through every trick it had ever been taught.. the deep plunge, the head tickle, the head glom, the tongue run, the throat clench, the fake gag, the mouth waggle, the suck and swirl, etc.  Seriously, I have a number of rather specific techniques and am rarely at a loss of what to do with a cock.  That said, in relation to the actual glory hole - there are only two means of activity: 1/ the sucker actively sucks on the cock, bobbing his head up and down while the suckee remains basically motionless or 2/ the suckee decides to drive and basically fucks the suckee's relatively stationary mouth.  Trust me, there's enough variety to keep things interesting.

So I stuck it out in that booth for a total number of 12 dicks.  At one point I had four dudes pressing down upon me from the open wall-side, a silver daddy with a nice club dick, a leather otter, a leather eagle, and some non-descript blonde guy with a soft bod.  I did what I had to do, sucking on them all, but after a point I let them know that I was there to service the holes.  The silver daddy wanted my hole, but due to the fact that it was still in recovery mode, I did not give it up to him.  I sucked the leather otter until he was ready to shoot at which point he hit the trail and the leather eagle just wanted a big old bear hug and some kisses before he drifted off. 

As for those I got to suck through the hole, while I may not remember the order, I do remember some of the details. Sure, I didn't get a strong sense of these men, but I defintely got familiar with their dicks and on occasion caught sight of them as they were walking away.

Here's a partial list (what I remember):

Dude #1: Entered soft, grew to about 7", nice width, cut dick with very slight upward curve.  As he walked away I noted that he was probably in his early 40's, had a nice body except for his middle-aged belly - or maybe it was due to bad posture.  Fairly hairless.  Shaved pubes.  No cum.

Dude #2: Entered hard, about 7".  Full black bush.  Talked to me, kept asking if I liked his ripe crotch (it was not ripe, but rather smelled of talc, I played along).  He was doing heavy poppers.  Surprisingly, this is one of only two times that I took a hit of them.  Usually, I found, I was too busy.  He went soft on me, I put his balls and his cock in my mouth.  He shot when only semi-hard, but it was hot.  He had a lot of tattoos. 

Dude #3: A thin long one, 8".  No cum.  Nice looking dude.  Wearing a traditional jock and a cap.  Very midwestern, with a buzz cut.

Dude#4: Short dude, soft to hard.  7".  No cum.  Mid 30's.  Nice solid body.  Pretty hairless.

Dude#5: A tiny one.  Maybe 4" max, but hey, they can't all be over 6", right?  No cum.

Dude#6: Enters hole wearing one of those white, spandex like thong things that shape to your cock.  I think there were globular beads of dried cum on it, which, while a bit gross, kind of appealed to the cum pig in me.  I wet that fucker and licked it for all it was worth.  Then he withdrew, unsheathed it, and stuck it back in.  What a beautiful white worm.  Softest skin I would work on all night and one of the fattest dicks.  I really liked it.  It was dark, but I could still tell just how pretty pink that head was.  So, I have no idea how old this dude was, but that dick came back for seconds and I would happily suck on it any time.  Really got into it.  9".

Dudes #7, #8, #9, and #10: These are the four dudes I mentioned above, who eventually came around to the open side and wanted to just have regular sex, as opposed to glory hole sex.  Had my hole been 100% and had I been in the mood for it, it could have turned out to be a hell of a scene, and might have even escalated because we gathered quite a crowd almost instantly.  Started at the hole with the silver daddy with the club dick.  What do I mean by a club dick?  Seriously ugly dick, misshapen, but huge and thick.  I kind of liked slurping on it through the hole and would have preferred that had been the end of it.  Let's see: silver daddy - 8.5 uncut, thick, leather otter - 7.5, cut, leather eagle - 6.5, cut, and nondescript blonde - 7, cut.  When the silver daddy comes around for seconds through the hole, he shoots in my mouth. Otherwise, no cum.

Dude #11: Wearing a long sleeved blue dress shirt.  Tiny dick 3".  He just kept walking around me and around me.  Had kind of a black mullet, a goatee, and a huge hard belly.  Not my thing and the glory hole began to lose it's appeal.

Dude #12: Tall thin dude in leather harness and black jock.  I think I know him from the prairie.  Nice cock, shaved.  8.5. No cum.

Total: 83" of dick and two loads.

At that point a really old dude stuck his withered dick through the hole and I just kind of lost heart.  I was done.  Went upstairs and sat on a couch.  Talked to three dudes, all nice looking, one of them being Dude #12.  I sucked on the first one, he's some kind of teacher and has to work the next day, had already been fucked by this dude I know, and was ready to go home.  The third guy?  Handsome - traditionally so, stupid tan, great bod, lean, tall and kind of a shitty princess attitude.  We seemed to hit it off right away.  I saw him arrive and we made eye contact then.  I know he likes what he sees.  He kept circling back until the other dudes were gone.  We sat on the couch and wasted no time getting down to business.  I sucked him... nice 8" cut dick.  His bod seemed as nice as mine.  I worked his nips and then moved in for the kiss.  The kiss.  Ugh.  He's a mean kisser.  Weird.  Does this thing where he kind of sucked super hard on a section of my lip until it stung so much I had to pull away.  I'm thinking - WTF?  I look at him and I can tell he thinks that's hot!  That's his technique.  I know this because he keeps doing it, even after I changed my approach several times.  So the kissing thing was not working for me.  And I think he sensed it.  I pulled away from him and waited for him to leave.

Then I went and laid down on a couch in one of the blackout rooms.  Had a couple of offers, but really was not in the mood for overweight dudes or anyone I wasn't attracted to touching me, so turned them all down.  Keeping an eye on the time, I was about to leave when who should show up, but the pretty twink with the great bod that was getting gang banged on the fuck bed outside my glory hole earlier in the evening.  He stuck his dick in my mouth.  Blech.  It was wet and cold and had no life.  Instead, I positioned his ass over my face and ate the fuck out of it.  All of the sudden this dom top came roaring out of me and I just took control of the kid and kept his hole on my mouth for like ten solid minutes, chewing, sucking, licking, and tonguing his well-used cum hole. 

I didn't get a sense that there is any cum in him, so I decided to fix that.  I pushed his ass down and poised him over my dick, which was rock hard for the first time that night.  The kid wanted to suck it, but I wouldn't let him... I only wanted one thing.  Using only the spit I left on his hole, I eased him down on my cock.  He protested and tried to get away, but I didn't let him.  I was lying on my back and just impaled his bod on my dick.  He sort of yelped, which only made me more determined, and then he relaxed into it.  He was lying on top of me, his back to my chest.  His body just happened to be incredibly light or I was feeling incredibly strong, not sure which, but I seemed to be able to manipulate him any way I wanted.  I just moved him up and down the length of my pole until he made me shoot.  The cum acted as a nice lube and I simply continued fucking him long after orgasm has been reached.  In my head I was calling him every slut name I could think of, but otherwise remained silent.  I felt like I was raping him, even though that was far from the truth.  I think he liked the violence.  I pushed him off me and told him I was done with him.  He told me how much he liked it before twinking his ass away, no doubt in search of more cock.  I wondered if he was tweeking or on something, but, eh... when in Rome. 

I don't care because now I'm spent and lighter one load.  Overall, not a great evening, but I got what I came for.

My Conclusion

I get the whole anonymous thing, but glory holes are definitely not something I would pursue if some other kind of sexual contact was made available.  It felt like only part of an equation.  I kept waiting for the rest of it to arrive. 

Also, as a sucker, those holes are kind of hard on your lower lip.  I didn't think about the consequences of that kind of irritation until later in the week.  Even taking the time to gargle and using wet wipes on my face (which I did do between tricks), I still ended up feeling that an extended session servicing whatever came through those holes was not a good idea. 

Bottom line: it left me wanting, as did the whole evening.  I'm starting to think that the warehouse scene is not for me, no matter my motives or permitted activities. I like it in theory, but not in actuality.  I think the anonymity afforded me in the glory hole only served to heighten my desire for sexual contact on a more personal, intimate level.

But that's my conclusion.  I get why these exist.  I understand their allure and the purpose they serve in our society.  Maybe I simply over did it, as is my modus operandi - I always tend to want too much or to take something over the line.  As a one or two cock activity - not bad.  But a dozen?  That's ten too many.  So, in the end, perhaps it is my own lack of discipline and need for excess that robbed my glory hole experience of its glory.

And then again, maybe once (or in this case twelve times) is enough!