While I was driving home from the movies with my family, a nice young woman driving in front of me pulled off to the side of the road and, as I passed her, she gave me the middle digit, the bird, the finger, you know what I'm talking about here. Now, perhaps I was following a little too close or something (I didn't think so) but I didn't think I was deserving of being flipped off.
Now this got me to thinking about how in the world this tiny gesture got started in the first place. Without going into too much detail, here's what I've learned... Its origins date back over 2500 years and the first written record of the insult occurred in ancient Greece, where the playwright Aristophanes made a crude joke mixing up the middle finger and the penis. Even back then, the bird was considered an aggressive, phallic put-down.
Well, ain't that special?
But, you know what? I think the "finger" is used too much. It has lost its impact. Yeah, I wanted to beat the woman's head in after receiving my much maligned gesture, but really its no big deal.
I kind of like what they do in Africa and the Caribbean. They use a similarly obscene gesture by extending all five fingers with the palm facing forward, meaning "you have five fathers" (thus calling someone a bastard). I think that's funny as hell because when I give this gesture to someone, they will think I'm waving, but I'm really saying, "You have 5 fathers, you poor pathetic bastard!"
So, the next time we see each other, you'll have to wonder..."Did he wave or is he calling me a bastard?" Hmmm. Only my hair dresser knows and he ain't talking...
