Michael & Liz are Bloggable

Back in 2008 I ran in the Marine Corp Marathon. During the expo I got the sweetest, brightest, orange-blinging running shirt I could find. It actually found me it was so bright. I love bright orange, not sure why. It says "Marine Corp 26.2" on the front. It really is one of my favorite shirts.

I don't wear it very often outside of running trails though, maybe 3 times this year? It's kind of tight, it's clearly meant for running, and people bark at me. To an untrained ear it literally sounds like someone barked or at the very least got punched in the stomach. They see "Marine Corp" on the front and bark "hoo-AH!" when they see it. I realize this is a Marine Corp thing and it's a sign of camaraderie amongst marines. But it's honestly embarrassing to be barked at and then give a retort of "oh, haha, yeah"... I might as well reply "oh, yeah, I'm going to be awkward now."

I'm not a marine so I don't feel like I have the privilege to bark back. Every part of me wants to though just to get out of the situation. It got me thinking, the barking should be a goodbye, not a hello. A simple "Oh Hey! I was a marine" to start the conversation would be a perfect hello, complimented by a we're-the-same-so-say-it-with-me "hoo-AH" goodbye.

I can see how they could be confused. Sometimes when I see a fellow Bengals fan I would say/yell "WHO DEY!" and they would respond the same. Somehow I feel like it's different, maybe it's because "hoo-AH!" startles me every time and it takes me a second to process grunts.

Anyway, I tallied 2 barks today, creating awkward situations one "hoo-AH!" at a time.