I didn't have a good idea of where to start when filling in the "About me" on my profile page in Rav, either. The last blank to fill in asks for your favorite curse word. So reflecting on something like that I entered the following anecdote.
While I don’t have a favorite curse word and my language is generally G-rated, I can say there is one that always seems to make me smile. I guess it’s not a funny story, though. It was sort of a context mismatch that really took me by surprise.
Several years ago my then college lab partner, Lynn, and I were thoroughly frustrated with our lack of progress in building the correct circuitry. She suddenly exclaimed, “Dookie!” And I instantly burst into laughter. Lynn soon started laughing at me because I couldn’t stop laughing or even catch my breath for a few minutes. My belly ached from laughing so hard and for so long, and I even had tears in my eyes. (It was a really good laugh!) When I could finally speak I looked at Lynn, who was thirty years old at the time, and said, “I haven’t heard that word since I was about 10 years old.” She replied that it was something her 10 year old had been saying lately. In a college class where students were often inspired to utter any number of different things expressing their frustration, it was a truly out of place thing to hear.
Later I told my dad about this and found the story is even less funny if you never heard or used this word as a child and don’t know what it means. When I was a kid it meant poop and more specifically dog poop, since that was the version commonly seen lying in a pile in the grass. (When I was a kid, kids still played outside and people really didn’t pick up after their dogs.) I suppose it might be regional or generational (the word), but I really don’t know.
I sure wish I could think of something else to say, besides that I DO pick up after my dog using Mutt Mitts and have always done so the entire time I’ve had her, even in my own backyard. (Because left out it can attract pests and contaminate soil and be a health hazard to children or gardeners up to five years in the future.) A Mutt Mitt goes with us on our walk three times a day every day and also when I take her to Petsmart, to see the vet, or to visit an assisted living facility and nursing home. The “pooh bag” (unused) goes in my left pocket and my keys go in my right pocket. As soon as something else comes to mind it’s definitely replacing what’s above. While it still amuses me to remember that incident I can’t imagine being known or recognized by it, lol.
I've not really wanted to leave that in my Rav profile for so long, I just didn't have anything else I could think of to put there and never came up with something that said "me". But it has a home here now. Could be no one else in the world thinks that is funny, but every time I think of that incident and my lab partner, Lynn, I can't help but smile. It sure is wonderful fun to laugh until you can't breathe.
No comments:
Post a Comment