Take Care With the Bear
Home / Musings Home

So it was about 12:15AM on Sunday morning and I had just gotten back to my dorm in Ann Arbor after returning from my grandmother's birthday party in Kalamazoo. When I turned my computer on to check my e-mail, MSN messenger automatically logged me in, and one of the people I had met while in Peru also happened to be signed on. She started chatting with me, and the following conversation ensued:

Rusty says:
today was my grandmother's birthday
Rusty says:
so i just got back from the party

meche says:
take care with the bear!!

I kind of wondered what that meant, which resulted in the following exchange:

Rusty says:
the bear?

meche says:
yes

It soon turned out that she actually meant "beer" instead of "bear", which makes the phrase "take care with the (beer)" make quite a bit more sense, especially considering that I did have to drive about 110 miles in order to get home after said party. This realization led to a conversation about how:

• In the USA, beer is not typically drunk at grandparents' birthday parties.
• In the USA, there is a minimum (legal) drinking age of 21.
• Many grandparents here would not approve of underage drinking at their birthday party.

All of these observations were met with initial disbelief and surprise, as things are somewhat different than that in Peru. After this conversation, she had to go, so the question now is: When she realized that the word was "beer", did she also realize what the word "bear" means (ala the animal)

In any case, from now on, I shall definitely make every effort to take care with the bear.