My mom called with a question for my husband and I told her that he would be home later. He works for the Navy and they are having a meeting on the Don't Ask/Don't tell repeals. My husband told me that they will be covering Gay/Lesbian and transgender sensitivity training and awareness. They are being told how to handle situations if people come right out and say they were gay/transgender. I jokingly told my mom that if someone was transgender the cat was already out of the bag. My mom gets quiet and says, "How would they know?" "How would they know what?" I asked. "That someone is transgender? Doesn't that mean they have both male and female parts?" OMG I died laughing. Poor mom, I had to explain it to her. I had to share, and she is on my facebook so I couldn't put it there. Has you parents ever said anything like that, and you end up having to explain it?
I asked my mom once when I was younger "what does it mean to be legally blind"
and her response was "well they get the handicap parking"
I looked at her and said "mom if they are blind they are not driving"
she told me to "be quiet and stop asking her so many questions"
When planning my wedding cake topper, I wanted our initials. I told my mom that I couldn't do "S & M" so I was going to have to go with "S O M". She didn't understand why "S & M" would have been bad.
My Mom... used to think a mouse, was a baby Rat.
Yah, even in adulthood.
OMG
I had to explain that one to her.
By the time my younger sister was a junior in college she had been in a couple of long-term serious relationships - including a guy she dated for 2+ years in High School. I was home from grad school to do some interviews without my husband and my mom wanted to have a "serious" talk. At the time my sister had been dating a guy in grad school for a couple months. Mom wanted to know if I thought it was time for her to talk to my sister about how to say no when a guy wants sex..... or was it too early? Probably hadn't happened yet - right? Had to pinch myself under the table to keep from losing it.
Then she opens some bills and sees a charge my sister made - on Valentine's day - for red underwear - red mens' underwear - and she starts to wonder out loud what that might be - how did that happen - and I had to sit there and watch - and not laugh - as it dawned on her what that meant....She turned red and left the room... I made a dash for the phone to call my sister and warn her - very quietly and without laughing (this was before cell phones, text messages or emails!)
When I was in middle school and my family was at the zoo, some guy walked by wearing an I LOVE TO EAT BEAVER t shirt. My older brother and I started laughing. My dad was like, "what's so funny about that shirt?" My mom was like, "yuck, that's not funny you two."
So they thought it was a fun giftshop shirt or something.
Well I'd like to point out that you might not know if someone was transgendered....I mean you might have suspicions but if a person is post-op, you really would have no real way of telling "the truth". Just sayin'. I mean look at Chaz Bono, I'd honestly have no idea he was born a woman if I didn't already know.
But, I did have a funny experience when I was teaching school I was an assitant basketball coach and we took the girls on a road trip for a tournament and our principal came with us. We stopped at at T/A gas station and my friend and I joked about T and A. The principal looked at us and said, I don't get it? We died laughing and had to be the ones to explain to her what it meant! Talk about awkward! ;) But it was funny!
My husband and father in law were driving to the airport. My son who was 12 at the time was in the back seat. The father in law and my husband were talking about the layoffs at the union hall. Mentioning this one and that one had been laid off. My son spoke up from the backseat and ask if that meant the same as getting laid. my father in law nearly hit the side rail on the tollway he was laughing so hard.
We have an Aunt she is 80. Her nickname has always been MUFF.
At one point she had custom license plates on her fancy car and did not know why young guys were always honking and waving at her.
We were walking on the beach...my mom, myself, my adult cousin and my cousin's kids and my little sister. Suddenly my mom gets all excited and calls everyone over to see the strange "jellyfish" she had found. My mom and adult cousin were both discussing what kind of jellyfish they thought it could be...I had to tell them that is was a condom.
We have a strip club in our town called the the "PlayHouse". We passed it on the way to the city and my mom asked me what play was showing there and did I want to go with her! Hahahahah! Uhhhh......NO!!!
Unfortunately, yes, but then we found out she has dementia. And as much as we explain things to her she doesn't get them :-/
Enjoy your mom, bless her heart!
Have you ever heard the 'your mom' jokes? A derivative of the 'yo mama' jokes... only these are just awful. My husband and I crack jokes on 'your mom' all the time. We don't mean these things towards literally each other's mothers, but they're hilarious to us (we're out there, we know it, we're okay with it, LOL!)
Anyone, one Easter, we were at my parents house for dinner. My husband made a sly comment to my little brother and I on the ham looking like 1/2 a person's fat @ss... We died giggling, and I said 'it's your mom!'... so now we're really cracking up. Well my mom heard me and says 'R., that's a terrible thing to say!!' (so now my husband and brother are practically crying laughing because mom doesn't get it)... So I tried to explain it to her, and my little brother suddenly goes straight faced and says, loudly, 'R., I don't see how that's funny. That's really messed up to say that about Rob's' mom'... (now my husband has practically left the room he's laughing so hard)... I was like 'Benjamin! You know damn well it's a joke'... little sh!t threw me under the bus!! TOTALLY busted my balls. We were dying ;)
Mom still doesn't get it ;)
Awwwhh, give your mom a break (chuckle chuckle), it's a fairly new term, so I'm not surprised she didn't know. Transgender does actually mean different things to different people. This article explains it well:
http://www.gaycenter.org/gip/transbasics/whatistrans
I enjoyed reading other stories too, so funny!
I'm not sure here what is so funny about what your mom said. Sometimes a transgender person is in the process of transitioning so they do have both parts. And like you might think, you can't always tell so just by looking at someone so the cat isn't going to be out of the bag.Transgender people do not identify with their sex, preferring to live as a different gender. Sometimes they might be identifiable, but sometimes not. I've watched enough Oprah and other specials on this topic to know a little something here. I'm curious as to how you explained this to your mom.
