Resilience and Gobbledygook

Wait! Wasn’t 2021 supposed to be better than 2020?

My husband is a warrior. He can totally survive any apocalypse brewing. I am much less so a warrior, but would still do my best and I am certain that he would be able (and willing) to pick up my slack so that he, I, and our daughter would survive whatever curveballs are coming. Thus, that weight lifted off my shoulders, I am able to maintain a little positivity. I have seen both good and evil in this world. While I realize that there are good and bad people of all different walks of life, not one classification of people – any type of people – resides solely at one end of the spectrum or the other. There is good and bad in all of us…just different potencies.

I believe that resilience is a key factor in survival – both physically and emotionally. With all the craziness in the world right now, we have no control over many things, but we do have control over our own behaviors and reactions.

So, while I will keep a realistic and practical mindset for our physical survival, I also see the necessity of preserving our emotional survival. Let’s keep this world human. I promise to do my best to bring a little good into this world – no matter how small. I will continue to hold the door open for people who walk right behind me. I will ask if I can pet someone’s dog. I give random compliments to strangers. I will continue to post humorous memes so they might make one person smile today. And I will continue to tell my quirky stories…all so we don’t forget to be human.

Here’s today’s story…

About a year ago, my family and I were deciding what Chinese food dishes we wanted to order. When sweet and sour pork was mentioned, my daughter asked what that was. I explained that they were kind of like chicken nuggets, but made with pork, thus the term “pork nuggets” was born. I’m not sure how I went eight years without my daughter knowing what sweet and sour pork (or chicken) was, but the same thing happened with refried beans. When she was about five, I asked her if she wanted refried beans. When asked what they were, I explained they were like the pinto beans she liked, just all squished up like mashed potatoes; hence the phrase “squishy beans” became a regular term in our house.

I have so many of these that I don’t think them odd anymore until I say them in front of someone with limited exposure to our gobbledygook. When I was much younger, Velcro was “rippy-zippies,” croutons were “munchies and crunchies,” and fountain drinks became “suck straws” (because you suck it up through the straw). In recent years, I’ve heard “snack holes” for pockets and “American horse pirates” for cowboys. Heaven help anyone who tries to interpret what I’ve written in a hundred years, but I sure do love creative vocabulary. It brings a little sunshine to the day.

Original Post 01/2021