3/18/10 On Lent, Maritime Punishment and Tiny Chicken Sandwiches

Dad and I were having a discussion on the phone today when an interesting question came up.

Dad called because Tony and I are going to see Mom and Dad tomorrow morning and Dad was going to order Chick-Fil-A Chick-n-minis for breakfast for us. Which was a totally awesome gesture because there are few things on this Earth I adore as much as those minuscule bites of chicken and biscuit-y goodness. Sadly however, I had to remind him that it was a Lent Friday, and therefore by church decree, no minis would hereto pass our lips.

(And if you've ever had Chick-Fil-A's breakfast chick-n-minis, you can imagine that there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth over that).

(It is my sincerest belief that when the devil was tempting Jesus in the desert and he offered him food and drink, he totally had chick-n-minis in mind).

Anyway, I thought about yelling, "Get ye behind me, Satan!" at him, but Mom and Dad don't observe Lent, so it was just an honest mistake. (Plus accusing Dad of being Satan would probably greatly reduce any future offers of chick-n-minis, and I've already admitted how much I love them). By the way, none of this has anything to do with the interesting question...I just wanted you to know that I had to turn down chick-n-minis so you could be impressed with my Lenten devotion.

(And yes, I realize that completely defeats the point).

Anyway, the interesting question had to do with keelhauling. (Quite a jump from chick-n-minis, I know, but try to follow me here). Dad was talking about something that happened with his job, and how he'd like to keelhaul his co-workers for endangering one of his accounts. (Dear ol' Dad doesn't mess around). But then he figured that this person (being of a mid-western nature) wouldn't understand what keelhauling was. And I said surely even people who didn't live on the water were familiar with keelhauling...I mean, you don't have to grow up on a boat to know port and starboard, right? And he thought, no, that it was mostly coastal people who would know the term, but it would be interesting to take a survey to see if that was true. So I ask you, dear readers, are you familiar with the term keelhauling, and do you live near the water? And if you answered yes to the first and no to the second, do you remember where you happened to first come across it? We're just curious. I grew up knowing the term, but then I grew up on the water, so maybe it is just a regional thing. So if you could be so kind as to leave a comment and let me know, Dad and I would appreciate it.

And it would keep my mind off of how delicious a chick-n-mini would be right now.


PS- If you're really curious, you can find the definition of keelhauling here. (Although I warn you that it isn't pleasant, as keels are covered with razor-sharp barnacles and all).