I learn stuff from students – random stuff. Today’s blog is courtesy of Philly Kim one of my former students (and now a friend) who taught me an acronym that I had never heard of before.

Now, a warning of sorts, this may get a bit risqué for the printed word at least in its innuendo. Not like some magazine that has a brown wrapper on it at the store, but a bit racier than my normal blogs. Sorry, but the lawyer in me mandates that I warn the sensitive that you may be exposed to something that shocks you…so turn back now sensitive reader if you must.

Moving on, here is what I learned from Philly Kim – "B.O.B.", and yes, that is an acronym. When Philly Kim first noted this in casual conversation I had no idea what she meant – so I asked and here is what I learned: B.O.B. stands for Battery Operated Boyfriend. Oh my…I have not been the same since learning this acronym.

I do appreciate that she made an acronym for it; that is what we do in emergency management – acronym folks to death.  So to extend the pattern to your personal life is an interesting phenomenon that I find intriguing. But I am dancing around the B.O.B. here (and I mean that figuratively not literally), so let’s just get to it.

So, what can I say about B.O.B. and still keep it clean?  Philly Kim loves her B.O.B. Indeed, she has even named it – “Constantine Maroulis” – you may remember the smoldering dark haired Greek kid who made all the girls swoon on American Idol a number of years ago. I wonder if Constantine would be honored to hear that Philly Kim had named her B.O.B. after him. If you know him, be sure to tell him and get back to me with his reaction. Is one honored, horrified or a bit titillated at the notion of being someone’s B.O.B.?

At any rate, once armed with this new acronym information I saw the world differently. Just hearing the movie title – “What About Bob?” – makes me giggle a bit. What puts me over the edge though is the commercials for the local radio station here in Fargo that is called BOB. When I hear the catchy BOB, BOB, BOB tunes (there are a whole series of them) and they get stuck in my head, I am bouncing around humming BOB, BOB, BOB all day. Knowing what I know about B.O.B. it seems oddly wrong to have those tunes stuck in my head, but it may explain why I am smiling when I am humming them. I cannot help but think of “Constantine Mouralis”…sorry, my mind works like that – it remembers the odd little things I pick up along the way and allows me to forget things like dentist appointments, anniversaries and phone numbers.

One of my colleagues in the office has a t-shirt that reads, “Got B.O.B.?” I cannot even remember what he told me it stood for – it wasn’t “Constantine Maroulis”, but that is what is stuck in my head and of course I just laugh uncontrollably when I see that shirt.

Now if you want to see me cry because I am about to internally combust from laughter sing the “turn your knob to BOB part of the jingle” and watch the effect it has on me. I cannot escape the Philly Kim B.O.B. imprint when I hear that tune.

I share this story with my friends across the country when I travel and now folks are intimately familiar with the BOB song and the B.O.B. acronym (although intimately may be the wrong word choice). My friends Dorothy and John get to humming it every time we get together. I should really get one of those “Turn Your Knob to Bob” shirts to wear for the next time I see them – I bet I could make them pee their pants laughing.

For those of you who are outside the area see this short You Tube clip so you too can experience the joy – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEMTWB4X-u8 . I guarantee you, you will never forget the acronym.

God bless my students – I learn random things from them and every day it is something new. For today though, hum it with me…BOB, BOB, BOB and know that as you are humming that someone else will look at you and have no idea why you are cracking up – but I’ll know and so will Philly Kim. 🙂

Day sixty of the new forty – obla di obla da

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