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Self Reliance - VIP Mini Story

Back to our old friends Chim-chim and Heva.

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Chim-chim and Heva decide to take a road trip, a buddy trip.

What is a buddy? What’s a buddy? ‘Buddy’ means friend. So a buddy is a friend. So they decide to take a friend trip together. We call this sometimes a road trip. The exact meaning of a road trip means to get in a car and drive on a long trip. You know driving in a car. You can sometimes use it more generally even if you’re flying or taking trains too.

So, anyway, they decide to take a trip from New York to Hawaii, a buddy trip from New York to Hawaii. They start in New York and they go to the airport. They decide to fly first from New York to Chicago, so they go to the airport. When they’re in the line for security Chim-chim has his water confiscated by the security guards.

So what does confiscated mean, confiscated? ‘Confiscated’ means to take, to take something. It’s different than steal because confiscated has the idea that you’re taking something that someone should not have. Like, for example, in a classroom let’s say I’m teaching some children and they have a toy. They’re playing with the toy and they’re not listening to me. I might confiscate the toy. I’ll take the toy away from them because they shouldn’t have the toy during class. In security in an airport they won’t let you take water through the security now so they will confiscate it. They will take it from you. So Chimchim’s water is confiscated.

So who’s water is confiscated?

Chim-chim’s water is confiscated.

Do they confiscate Heva’s water?

No, they don’t confiscate Heva’s water. Heva doesn’t bring water he’s smart. He doesn’t bring water through security.

Whose water do they confiscate?

They confiscate Chim-chim’s water.

And who confiscates Chim-chim’s water?

The airport security guards confiscate Chim-chim’s water.

Do they confiscate anything from Heva? Do they take anything from Heva?

No, they don’t confiscate anything from Heva, but they frisk him. They frisk Heva.

What does that mean, to frisk, to frisk? ‘To frisk’ means to search someone by patting them. You always see this in the movies, right? The police arrest somebody and then they kind of pat. They’re looking for the guns or something, so they pat them down and all that. That’s called frisking, to frisk. This will sometimes happen in American airports now too. They will frisk you.

So do they frisk, do they touch and search Chim-chim?

No, they don’t. They don’t frisk Chim-chim.

Who do they frisk?

They frisk Heva.

What do they do to Chim-chim?

They confiscate his water. They take away his water.

So who frisks Heva?

The security guards frisk Heva.

Where do they frisk Heva?

Well, at the security point in the airport.

So do they kiss Heva or do they frisk him?

They only frisk him. They search him.

This is also called ‘patting down’, to pat. This action is patting, so to pat someone down.

It’s a phrase ‘to pat down’, phrasal verb. I’m trying to avoid the grammar terms. That means frisk. It’s slang, ‘to pat down’ or ‘to frisk’, same meaning. So they frisk Heva and they confiscate Chim-chim’s water.

What does Heva do when they frisk him?

Well, he does nothing. He’s very polite and patient.

What does Chim-chim do when they confiscate his water?

He gets very angry and he yells “You oppressive bastards!” Oh, what does that mean? Don’t do this in a real airport, by the way. ‘Oppressive’ is this idea that someone is pushing you down. We use it with like governments or people with power, using their power to put you down. This is an adjective ‘oppressive.’ It can be a verb ‘to oppress’. ‘To oppress’, means to put someone down. Like someone really rich hurting and pushing down poor people or whatever. That’s the idea.

So he’s insulting them. He saying you’re oppressive. It’s a negative word. It’s got a negative feeling. So oppressive means something that is hurting you. It’s taking your freedom. It’s unfair. All of these ideas, right? So he yells at the security guard ‘oppressive’ and then ‘bastard’ is just an insult. Asshole, bastard, you know whatever, kind of the same meaning. Bastard is for a man not for a woman.

What does he call the security guards?

He calls them oppressive bastards, oppressive bastards.

Are they wonderful nice people or does he think they are oppressive?

He thinks they are oppressive.

Does he think they are helping his freedom or taking it away?

Chim-chim thinks they are taking away his freedom. He thinks they are oppressive.

Does he think they are oppressive or does he think they are sweet and friendly?

He thinks they are oppressive.

Does Heva think they are oppressive?

No, Heva is relaxed. He doesn’t care. He does not think they are oppressive, bad and taking away freedom. Heva does not think that.

So who thinks the security guards are oppressive?

Chim-chim does.

And why does he think they are oppressive, you know bad, tyrannical?

That’s another good word. ‘Tyrannical’ comes from tyrant, like a dictator.

He thinks they’re oppressive, why?

Because they confiscated his water. They took his water and they don’t pay him. They just take it.

Who confiscated Chim-chim’s water?

The security guards.

What does he call them?

Oppressive bastards.

It’s a good insult, use it some time.

Okay. So, anyway, after they get through security Chim-chim is angry because they took his water, but they eventually arrive in Chicago. In Chicago they rent a car and they decide to drive from Chicago to Los Angeles so they rent a car.

Chim-chim wants to rent a Ferrari and Heva wants to rent an SUV.

So you probably know what a Ferrari is, a very fast sports car. I don’t know, I think they’re only red. Do they make other colors? I’ve only seen red. So, anyway, he wants a fast sports car and Heva wants an SUV. What’s an SUV? An ‘SUV’ is a type of car very popular in America. It’s kind of like a wagon. It’s almost like a truck, but it’s covered. It’s completely covered. The SUV stands for sports utility vehicle, but no one says that whole phrase. They just say SUV. It’s kind of like a bigger car, almost like a truck. You can drive it on dirt and stuff if you want to.

So Heva says “Give us an SUV” and Chim-chim says “Give us a Ferrari” and they start arguing.

So who wants the Ferrari?

Chim-chim.

And who wants an SUV?

Heva.

Which is bigger and stronger, a Ferrari or an SUV?

Well, I guess an SUV is bigger. They’re heavier. They’re larger and heavier.

Which is faster, a Ferrari or an SUV?

Definitely a Ferrari is a sports car, a race car. A Ferrari is faster than an SUV.

And who wants the SUV?

Heva.

Unfortunately, the car company does not have a Ferrari nor an SUV so instead they get a compact car.

‘Compact’ means small. Compact is that idea of small or putting a lot of things in a small space. So if you rent a car sometimes you can get a compact or an economy car. Those are the smallest ones and the cheapest.

So they get a compact car, a very small car and they drive and they drive and they drive all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles. It takes them a couple days.

Finally, when they get to Los Angeles they decide to take a cruise – a ship – to Hawaii and they get a stateroom on the boat. So it’s this huge boat and they get a stateroom on the starboard side of the boat.

So a ‘stateroom’, I don’t know why, but boats on cruises they call their rooms staterooms. It’s just like a hotel room on a boat is all it is, a stateroom. I think in the past it maybe had the idea of a large room with a lot of luxury, a very nice room, a stateroom.

It might come from the word ‘stately’. Stately has this idea of luxurious and rich, you know almost something a king would have. Now a stateroom on a boat, if you take a cruise or something, a stateroom is just kind of like a little hotel room on a boat is basically what it is.

Now, where is their stateroom? Which side of the boat is the stateroom on?

It’s on the starboard side.

What does that mean starboard? ‘Starboard’ means right side of a boat. If you’re facing to the front and you’re looking at the front of the boat, you’re standing on the boat and you’re looking at the front then the starboard is the right side and then the left is port, I believe, so port and starboard. Starboard is the right, port is the left, if you’re facing the front.

So which side is their stateroom on?

Their stateroom is on the starboard side.

So is it on the left side?

No.

Which side is it on?

It’s on the right side. Their room is on the starboard side. Their room is on the right side.

We only use this with boats.

So they have their nice stateroom on the right side, the starboard side and they cruise to Hawaii and they have a wonderful fantastic trip. In fact, it’s a completely hedonistic.

That’s our final word hedonistic. ‘Hedonistic’ means pleasurable and it really means pleasurable for the senses, meaning taste, touch, sight, sound. So a ‘hedonist’, we can describe a hedonist is a person, a type of person. A ‘hedonist’ is someone who just likes to live for pleasure. They just want pleasurable experiences all the time. They like to eat fine, wonderful, great-tasting food, maybe get massages. They always do things that feel, taste, you know sound great. They listen to wonderful music, right? They constantly want pleasure. So if we describe something as hedonistic, the adjective, a hedonistic trip, it’s a trip full of pleasure.

So they have what kind of a trip?

A hedonistic trip.

So it is a boring painful trip?

No.

Do they have a lot of pleasure and feel wonderful during this trip?

Yes, it’s a hedonistic trip.

And who goes on this hedonistic cruise, this hedonistic trip?

Our old buddies Heva and Chim-chim.

Do they have a great time?

Yes, of course they do because it’s a hedonistic trip and they finally arrive in Hawaii feeling fantastic.

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And that is the end of our buddy story and the end of this month’s mini story. See you again, bye-bye.