I is for Inappropriate

One of my favorite people in our knitting group is Megan.  She is 6 feet tall and a dear, sweet, lovely person! 

She teaches Special Needs kids at a high school, and she loves her kids beyond all reason.  She tells us stories of their triumphs and sometimes their funny quirks as well.

She told us about one boy who is relatively new to the school.  He has severe autism and is pushing boundaries to see what they are at this new school of his.  But he's really funny about it!

He'll say something really out of bounds, then lean over and smile and say, "That's inappropriate, right?"

When she told us about this, I about died laughing.  "That's BRILLIANT!!" I said.  "I'm so using that.  For the rest of my life, I can say WHATEVER I WANT, as long as I follow it up with: That's inappropriate, right?"

It's really become a thing in our knitting group.  When we are feeling salacious, we say what we want and follow it up with that!

I've noticed that people online get all bunged up about the strangest things.  Case in point:

Ravelry has an SKA group.  That's Sock Knitters Anonymous.  I love socks, and that group is exploding my already burgeoning queue!

Recently, someone got all bunged up over the disagree button an Ravelry SKA thread.  Someone saying they find it "offensive".  Really??  The fact that some random stranger hits the "disagree" button about something you posted is offensive?  That seems a bit extreme.  Personally,  I find racism offensive.  I find victim-blaming in rape cases to be offensive.  I find yarn to be many other things.

I think it takes a lot to offend me.  It doesn't take much to irritate me, but to offend me?  When I was working for the X (gaming company), some people would cuss, then apologize for it.  I never cared.  As long as they weren't cussing at me, it never bothered me.  I would say, "I spent five years in the Army, and I have an older brother.  If I haven't heard it, you're making it up."  You should hear some of the names Dave and I call each other when we are alone and picking on each other.  He says things that most women would slap him for saying (name-calling-wise), but he says them because he knows it makes me laugh like crazy.  And I laugh because I know he would never say those things to me for real (as in, saying them in anger to hurt).

I think it's so silly to get all butt-hurt about ANYTHING in a thread dedicated to talking about knitting socks.  I always want to say, "Calm down, people.  It's yarn."  I hold my tongue though, as I feel it's not worth getting involved in that kind of silliness.

Someone else did comment on it though, saying "I don't take the disagree button personally, simples."  I'm pretty sure the "simples" thing was probably a  typo, but doesn't the comma make that look like she just called all of us Simples.  I'm so using that, too!!

I've actually already started.  When Dave starts getting on my nerves, I just say, "Shut up, Simples."  He looks at me like I'm crazy, and we both start cracking up!

I love all you brilliant, shiny Simples, Ruth!