I read a quote by Drew Barrymore in my local newspaper recently that made me nod my head in agreement. She was talking about dating when she said this, but I think it applies to other relationships as well: “The only fundamental rule for me is to just be yourself. Let your freak-flag fly, and if someone doesn’t get you, move on.”
Everybody has a freak-flag. We're just cautious about waving it around too many people for fear of criticism. One of the ways I fly my freak-flag is by playing a word game with my oldest niece. I made it up when she was small and we've been playing it ever since. We'll drive by a Taco Bell and call it Burrito Flute. Or we'll see a Hardees and call it Soft-C's. Over the years, I came up with dozens of these.
Applebees = Orange-C's.
Hy-Vee = Low-W
Walgreens = Ceiling Blues
Burger King = Steak Queen
Outback = In Front
Buffalo Wild Wings = Chicken Tame Legs
Wendys = Breezies
Village Inn = City Out
On and on it goes. We have so many of these that my niece and I have our own lingo now. We'll use this lingo around our friends or family sometimes and they think we're crazy. Maybe we are. But we have a blast doing it. And we're always trying to come up with more.
I can't help but think about a time far into the future when I'm no longer here. Maybe my niece will be driving down the street one day with the burdens of life troubling her, and she'll drive by an Outback Steakhouse and smile to herself as she whispers "In Front."
Nobody else will understand it, but it won't matter because she will have made a connection to the past and drawn a slight bit of comfort in remembering a time when her crazy uncle let his freak flag fly.
