Dude, I'm Half Ginger

Over the weekend my best friend from age 16 posted this meme on her FB page, which is kinda funny because #1 she is a red head and #2 she has been nominated by all those who know her to be an official member of the grammar police.



I commented that we thought Marbles was going to be a red head and that his little eyelashes are red. I almost added that I call him our sweet little ginger. In fact I did type that part out, but then deleted it because I wasn't 100% sure the term "ginger" might not be offensive to her.

Instead, I decided to send her a text to ask her opinion on the term "ginger". This was her reply: "Well, the negative connotation came from a South Park episode, in which the South Park kids were trying to gather up all the ginger kids because they said gingers had no souls. And there are a lot of ginger jokes that are negative, so that’s where that came from. In my experience, most redheads are proud of it and don’t mind being called ginger because they feel their gingerness is rare and unique. I’m a proud ginger and I don’t know one redhead that minds being called ginger. It's very thoughtful of you to ask."

Here is what I responded: "I am happy to hear more and more people of all kinds of differences are turning differences into points of pride. It seems more and more acceptance is being cultivated and diversity of all sorts is being celebrated. I'm proud of my ginger bestie."

I have to share this part of the thread because it's the best part. She also shared this bit: "What’s funny to me is that kids today think “ginger” is like a race. I remember one time when my son was in high school and was in football summer training. He had a lot of bruises on his arms and one of his teammates asked him why he bruised so easily. Her son replied, “Dude, I’m half ginger!” That still cracks me up."