Tagged

Yes, I too was tagged. All I know is that you're supposed to post six things about you, so here goes:

1. I once ate 22 tacos from Jack In The Box in one sitting. Not because I'm a pig, but because, at a church activity when I was in high school, we were challenged by the girls to eat double the amount of tacos they did. I picked the skinniest girl so I could obliterate her mark, but she ended up eating 11 tacos. Then they all puked up their tacos and immediately challenged us to a track meet. Nice. This might be related to the time I ate six Tommy's Burgers--except that time it was because I was a pig, and people kept buying them for me to see if I could eat them. I retired from competitive eating at a very young age.

2. While I was backpacking alone through southern Europe I was asked to accompany four girls I had met (two Australians and two Swedes) to Turkey for protection. When we got to the Greek/Turkish border, a smelly, sloppy man jumped on the train and demanded our passports (the only English word he spoke--"PASSPORT!!!"). They all handed theirs over immediately but, since he looked extremely shady, I wouldn't do it. I just showed him mine but wouldn't hand it over. He got very irritated and yelled "TWENTY DOLLAR!!!" (apparently the two other English words he spoke). When I said no, he pulled me off the train and put me in a holding cell in a tiny little building. As he was leaving me in the room, I said, "okay okay okay, here's 20 dollars!" and handed him a bill. A few hours later, as I wondered if I would ever see freedom again, he burst in and threw my passport at me and motioned for me to go. To my amazement, our train was still there (well, the car was still there, with the four girls, but the engine had unhooked and driven back into Greece). I got on and looked at my passport, and there was a beautiful, official Turkish Passport stamped into the page--cost, $20. It would have been nice of them to have their border agents wear uniforms, or speak a few words of English (or French, or Spanish, or Swedish--we tried all of them), or shower, for that matter. After another hour or so, a WWII-era engine came out of Turkey, hooked us up, and pulled us to Istanbul.

3. I almost always over-tip while eating out. I believe the good karma will come back to me. It doesn't always, but last night was one of those rare payoffs at a decent Latin place that has excellent ceviche.

4. I have completed more school than most people should be required to complete--except maybe doctors. I did this voluntarily--maybe I was just looking for ideas?

5. I have a bald head. This item was the result of the following conversation:

Me: Charles (my 5-year-old), what should I put about myself?
Charles: (blank stare)
Me: Charles, if you had to tell someone about your dad, what would you tell them?
Charles: (blank stare, looks at my head)
Me: Charles, if someone said, "tell me one thing about your dad," what would you tell them?
Charles: (pause) you have a bald head

(Thanks a lot son. Just remember, you have my genes. Also, bad things happen to kids who make fun of bald men--just read 2 Kings 2:23-24)

6. I agree with my wife that peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination in the world. However, I refuse to ruin it by putting it in cheesecake flavored ice cream, like she always does.

I tag everyone, but I'm not holding my breath...