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| This was what I was referring to when I called him a burned up raisen. I blame the media. |
I did get picked on a lot but my smart mouth was a big part of the the reason. I always pushed jokes too far or made jokes about someone that hurt their dignity and pride.
Truth be told, making fun of and then getting in a fight with someone is how I made my best friends. I was in a class with a Mexican boy who was much larger, taller, and wider than the rest of us. I thought it was hilarious to call him the six-foot-raisin. I know, I know, I can't believe what passed for humor when I was eight.
He took it pretty well until one day he asked my why I called him the-six-foot-raisin. I told him it was because he looked like a burned up raisin, a reference to his brown skin and his passing resemblance to the dancing Raisins on TV. The problem was we were in a group of about 20 kids standing around in the slushy snow waiting for the teacher to unlock the door for the morning. They laughed, he got embarrassed and we got in a knock down roll in the slush rip our clothes fight. It left us both bleeding and covered in slushy mud. We fought for so long we missed the first and second bell and both staggered in cold and wounded 5 minutes late.
The teacher freaked out, called our parents and while we both waited for our parents to come get us in the office I apologized and we bonded. We were good friends all through school and I still keep up with his family. Good guy. I have since learned the politically correct term is Hispanic or Burned-Up-Raisin-American.
