NYers vibe to Trojan vibrator giveaway

Photo credit: Onlookers watch as two of hundreds of men, women line up to receive a free vibrator. (Craig Ruttle)

The line for the 5,000-or-so free vibrators Trojan handed out at 14th St. and Ninth Ave. Thursday night between 5 and 7 p.m. was not exactly what Dinetta Gilmore was expecting.

"I'm shocked to see so many guys -- obviously straight guys -- in this line!" marveled the 53-year-old educational book vendor from Bed Stuy, who had her heart set on a free five-speed, three-pulse-patterned gizmo called the Triphoria that retails for $39.99. "The fact that these guys aren't threatened by getting a vibrator for their woman is a good thing," Gilmore said.

When another woman speculated unflatteringly about the ulterior motives men in the line might have, a bespectacled, grey-haired man hollered out, "some of us are married!"

Indeed. Thirty to 40% of the constituents in the long awaited vibrator giveaway, which was aborted on Wednesday until Trojan could obtain the proper permits -- were guys. Some came with romantic partners. Some had babies and toddlers in tow.

Jerson Mezquita, 21, a mechanical engineering student from the South Bronx, was there to inject "a little extra spice" into the relationship with his girlfriend. ("We were already looking to buy one anyway.") Citing a high school research paper he wrote on the female orgasm ("my teacher gave me a lot of freedom"), he explained that vibrators were a useful tool in bridging The Great Arousal Divide..

"It's my wife's birthday. I figured this is something different she'll get a kick out of," said Michael Madden, 36, a carpenter from Highbridge in the Bronx. Yes, he assured, flowers and dinner were on the celebration agenda as well. "I'm secure in myself. If a guy is threatened by a woman using a vibrator, he's got a lot more to worry about than vibrators. He needs to work on himself," said Madden.

But not all carriers of the Y chromosome were eager to display their new, free mechanical toy to the world on their commute home. When one nattily dressed gent received his purple box festooned with a picture of the contents, he stopped, turned to his friend, and said, "The first thing I'm going to do is walk down to the corner and find a black bag to put this in!"

Batteries were included. Man bags, alas, were not.

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