When we were in Disney World last month, we had several meals in restaurants where the various Disney characters walked around and greeted the kids, signed autographs, and posed for pictures. It was all great, and the kids loved it almost as much as Cowgrit and our moms.

I even posed for a photo with Tigger: my one and only favorite of the characters. After the pose, with my arm around Tigger and his arm around me, Tigger held out his fist to me. I didn’t notice what he was doing at first, but when he pointed with his other hand, I realized his intention: a fist bump.

Caught up in the swirl of commotion that surrounds a Disney character in a crowded restaurant, I gave him the fist bump. But immediately afterward, I thought, Oh come on. A fist bump with Tigger?

That was my first and only fist bump, ever. I’ve never had anyone else throw up their fist for a bump, and I’ve never instigated the action. It has been so over hyped as a gesture that I even find it distasteful. Even stupid.

I had heard and seen reference to it through general cultural osmosis but it’s silly, and since I’m well beyond college age, I never expected to encounter it in person. Especially from Tigger. The silly and lovable critter with a head made of rubber and a tail made out of springs has become like a idiotic frat boy.

Bullgrit

We were all in the den – Calfgrit5 and I were lying on the floor playing Lego Star Wars, Calfgrit8 was on his mother’s computer, and Cowgrit was lying on the sofa reading a book. I asked Cowgrit a question (I forget what I asked). She lowered her book and answered me with a rather annoyed look.

A couple of minutes later, I asked her another question. Cowgrit lowered her book and answered me with a more annoyed look.

I pointed out that she was trying to read a book in the busy family room. “You could be reading in any room in the house, but you choose the one room where the boys are playing?”

“Well,” she said, “the boys aren’t bothering me.”

Oh, yeah. Oops. As an apology, I held up my hand to make the “I love you” sign (a common salute in our family). But when I lifted my hand, my fingers didn’t form the correct sign. I caught my mistake just before the unintended sign fully formed, and I corrected myself. We both knew what I had almost (unintentionally, honestly) done, and we chuckled.

“I was just thinking ‘You’re number one with me,’” I explained.

Cowgrit used her book to conceal her return salute from the boys, “You’re number one with me, too.”

We both laughed and looked around nervously to see if either of the boys had noticed our gestures. They hadn’t, so our mutual first ranking with each other is our little secret.

Bullgrit

I’m a member of Blog Catalog. It’s a web place to list one’s blog, and to converse with other people in the blogging hobby/business. After listing my blog there, really all I’ve done since is occasionally participate in some discussion threads on topics completely unrelated to blogging. (Coincidental to this post, this month is my one year anniversary of joining BC. I just noticed it while writing this tonight.)

Much like Facebook, other members of BC can invite you to join various discussion groups. Although I accepted a few invitations back in my first few weeks of joining BC, I haven’t really taken part in any of those groups. In fact, just a few months after accepting them, I deleted them from my list. I just don’t have enough interest in any of them to overcome the lack of time I have to participate in any of them.

Just recently I was invited to join the group titled, “Born Gay, Fabulous by Choice.”

A group for all Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered people to share their thoughts and experiences.

Be Proud!

A group where GLBT bloggers can share their blogs and discover new gems in the blogging community.

Even if you’re not GLBT but support our cause you’re welcome to join as well.

Ha! Hilarious!

(Brogrit will love to tease me about this, but I’m secure enough my my heterosexuality that such teasing doesn’t bother me. Besides, I saw what he had on his iPod.)

The blogger who invited me to this group is one that I recognize from the BC discussion forums. I’ve left some minor comments on a couple of threads he started. It was one of his topics that reminded me of my old experience at a GL bar. (All his discussions are about gay issues.)

Anyway, apparently I left some impression with him, and that’s why he invited me to this group. He sent the message through my “shout box” on Blog Catalog (so it is open for everyone to see):

You have been invited to join the group Born Gay Fabulous by Choice.

I responded back through the shout box:

LOL! Dude, you invited me to the “Born Gay Fabulous” group — I’m not gay. Gave me a good chuckle this morning. :-)

He answered:

LoL, I did it on purpose! Come on you liberal straight man, join what do you have to loose? You know it will be good for your ego ;-)

I said:

More LOL! It will be good for my ego? How, because I can say I get more vag than you gay guys? That’s not a big brag. ;-) And I’m not liberal, either. :-)

That’s where the conversation ended. Lacking a closing statement from him makes it feel a bit abrupt. I can’t help but wonder if my denying liberalism turned him off of me. He still talked to me after I said I’m not gay, but when I said I’m not liberal, zip, that’s the end of the conversation.

I guess he originally made the assumption that because I don’t have a hang up about gays/lesbians, then I must be of the liberal political persuasion. If so, then maybe my last response turned his assumption around and he decided that if I’m not liberal, then I must be conservative, and must be anti-gay.

Oh well. One should never assume (either way). When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me.

Bullgrit

The talk of zero tolerance in Wednesday’s post (below) made me remember an incident when we were flying home from Florida a few weeks ago.

Calfgrit4 (turned 5 yesterday) was sitting next to me on the plane, and I got out his Leapster (hand-held video game) for him to occupy himself. This was while we were still on the tarmac, a couple minutes before we were to take off. (Calfgrit4 called it “blasting off.”)

A flight attendant, walking the aisle, looked over at us and told me we couldn’t use electronic devices during take off. I said, “OK,” and had CG4 turn it off. I commented to my mom, who was sitting on the other side of me, that rule of absolutely no electronics was ridiculous.

Mom said, “It’s so they don’t have to make a judgment call.”

I understand that, and I can appreciate the position having to make a judgment call would put the flight attendants in. But really, my problem with it is:

The airplane electronics should be shielded well enough that nothing in the passenger compartment could possibly interfere with them. What kind of rinky-dink set up do airplanes use that someone checking their voice mail at the back of the plane could potentially turn the craft into a lawn dart? I should be able to check my voice mail while nuking a breakfast burrito in a 2,000-watt microwave and running a World of Warcraft LAN party on half a dozen laptops without the pilots up front noticing any problems with their multi-million-dollar systems.

Bullgrit