Losing Luggage, Gaining Laughter
A good friend of mine from my college days and later has since undergone a sex change operation. However, during the years leading up to the "gender reassignment" project completion, (s)he received quite a lot of grief from her elder sister and her divorced mother's then-new boyfriend regarding her future choice. One evening, after I had arrived during a rare gathering of all 4 plus myself for a planned evening out, I entered the neo-row house just in time to hear the elder sister utter, "well, you'll always be my little Charles to me." Chas immediately retorted with, "you're just angry because I'll be a much better daughter than you ever were." This was followed by a shriek and gales of laughter from their mother, Nancy, who was in the kitchen preparing a tray of light snacks for us to enjoy before heading out.

As the giggles from the kitchen subsided, Hank, the new boyfriend said, "so, Chas, you just can't hack it as a male?" It was my turn then, and being weak on ammo at the time, I pulled out an ancient line to hit him with. "Listen, buddy, the next time we want an outburst from an asshole, I'll fart, okay?" Hank turned his head to look at me but was immediately distracted by the resumption of laughter from the kitchen area. Hank quickly called out, "did you hear what he just called me?" only to be thwarted by Nancy's condescending tones: "Hank, you are a major asshole - but we all love you anyway." The look on his face said everything: it wasn't my tired old line which had caused him any distress, but his girlfriend's support of it which had deflated his ego.

The rest of the evening passed without incident brought about, no doubt, by Nancy's lovely support and appreciation of everyone present.

Including all the assholes.
( Felis Concolor, Thu 24 Nov 2011, 18:05, Reply)