Lesson in urban chic speak from a Houston blog:
Last week about 30 of us met to celebrate the 40th birthday of our Cult leader. We were downtown at a Mexican food restaurant and it was so freaking LOUD in there no one could hear anyone else talk. So to substitute for conversation, there was a massive amount of drinking. Since I'm not drinking these days, it was fun to watch the humans in the zoo.
At one point, I stepped outside to allow the tightness in my ears to return to earthly atmospheric pressures. Standing on the sidewalk outside were two lovely young women. They were both in their early 20's. Both were thin, fashionably decked out for a night on the town, both holding blue margaritas in their not so steady hands as they balanced on their spiky four inch heals. The blue in the margarita at this restaurant indicates that your chosen poison was made with Everclear. That's right. Everclear margaritas. For those determined to have a liver transplant before they get their Hello! letter from the AARP.
One of the hip, now, with-it ladies was white, the other was black. They were both ripped. I walked past them on the sidewalk when the black young woman exclaimed: "Girlfriend, I love your skirt!". Apparently she was talking to me, her girlfriend. I must admit, the skirt I was wearing was special. We struck up a conversation that went like this:
Young White Girl: Damned this margarita is good!
Me: (to Young Black Girl) I love your boots! But I don't know how you walk in them!
Young Black Girl: I. Don't. EITHERERRRERER! (drunken laughter, stumbling)
YWG: (to me) Where's your DRINK?
Me: I left it inside.
YBG: Nigger, it's LOUD in there! (she shouted this loudly)
Young black girl then put her hand over her mouth and said "Ohhhh I said the N word".
Me: But you're black. I thought only white people weren't allowed to say the N word.
YBG: No! Girlfriend, anyone can say "Niga" but I said the NNNNNN word!
Me: There's a difference?
YWG: (to me, old white suburban woman) Girl! It's like this!
Young black girl throws her arms around me and leans her head on my shoulder.
YBG: Niga you are BEAUTIFUL!
Me: (hugging her back) Well thank you. You're beautiful, too!
YBG: (squeezing me tighter) SEEEE? That's difference! You can be my NIGA but you can't be my nigger.
And so ended my daily lesson in urban chic speak. Not long after that I returned to my three bedroom suburban home, with a homesteaders' tax exemption, Braulio the Wonder Lawn Guy, and a remote control on my two car garage. Without of course, the requisite 2.3 white children. But we do have The Black Dog and he leaves enough hair around the house to make up for that.
aintchicken.com
For young people – white, Hispanic, black – nowadays “my niga” is a term they use for good friends (or frens). Use not advised for anyone over 24. “Gay” of course means incredibly lame and stupid – “that’s gay”. |
