partner-ship – what does it mean to you?

i have kanji tattoos…

…just like so many other white people.

“kanji” is the root language for the asian dialects, so when you get the “symbol for love” it’s usually not chinese or mandarin, but rather “kanji”. what’s interesting is here in america we use the same word in several ways and don’t realize that as a result there can be many symbols for one word – like “ship” for example. it can mean a boat, it can mean to mail something.

or the word “partner” – it could mean somebody in a business venture (or law firm) with you…it can mean somebody you’re playing sports with. it can mean something you match to something. in the ghetto vernacular it means “friend” or “homeboy”. in the gay world it means “husband” or “wife”.

and that last one was where my friday got interesting.

i have a friday routine – hit the gym, undo the gym with some mickey d’s, hit the shop for my first long weekend shift. typically the food is taken to go as it’s small and uneventful and can be eaten in the mile and some change between the drive-thru and the shop. but this last friday i actually sat down and ate in mcdonald’s, which i believe was the first time i had done so in several years.

while there i saw a lesbian couple come in with their kid. the “wife” took the lil’ one to the table, while the “husband” went and waited to order…

…i’d like to interject a brief note to all my lesbian readership real quick: if you’re gonna date a girl that’s trying her damndest to look like a dude, why not just date a dude and be done with it? just sayin’.

while waiting to order a group of somewhat thuggish looking black guys came in and got in line behind “him” – and one of them noticed the “husband”‘s shirt from vanderbilt university…

did you go to vanderbilt?
yes, i did – majored in business…
oh, my partner did, too! small world…
really…(“husband” now looks at two thuggish guys in a different, and apparently incorrect, light)
…how long you two boys been together?
WHAT?!?!? oh HELL no!!! it ain’t EVEN like that!!! we ain’t gay!!!

(apparently the hood crowd doesn’t feel compelled to add that “not that there’s anything wrong with that” line most folks do these days…)

i thought a fight was gonna ensue…which with him being 6’4″ and about 240 versus “his” 5’4″ 125 lb self the “tale of the tape” told how the tale would end. but the heat calmed down as quickly as it rose after some quick backtracking on behalf of the “husband” and the reality check to tupac junior that beating up a girl half your size doesn’t help your street cred.

moral to the story? make sure you know the meaning BEHIND the words you use…and that’s one to grow on!