Eat Me!

Posted by danleone on June 5th, 2008 filed in funny

When I was growing up, we made frequent trips to my father’s village in Italy. At the time, in the 70′s and 80′s, there was a lot of fascination with all things American (presumably that has diminished somewhat with George Bush). We saw many instances, even in the small village, of America’s influence. American music played on jukeboxes in bars and cafes while American television played in everyone’s homes (dubbed in Italian…imagine The Cosby Show in Italian!).

The other thing we noticed was the fascination with American fashions. Kids were scrambling to be seen with Nikes or Levis. The funniest thing is that we saw many T-Shirts with English words on them. These words or phrases never really meant anything, but I think the kids were happy to just show some sign of Americanism.

I don’t remember any of the specific words, but they always had a common theme of sport, fashion, speed and movement. They went something like this:

Club Sport
Super Play
Queen Princess

Well, on Monday, my cousin, his wife and their 13 year old daughter arrived from Italy. They are visiting my parents for three weeks. It turns out that this is a bittersweet visit as it is clear they are here to see my dad as he battles ALS.

When the plane landed, we waited anxiously as they survived customs. When they emerged, I saw my cousin first, then his wife. Taking up the rear, was their daughter. She was wearing one of “those” T-Shirts. As she paraded through the gauntlet of waiting families, we all stood, jaws agape, at what was emblazoned on her chest:

Eat Me! – Fresh and Juicy

…with a picture of two cherries. Did I mention that she is 13!? I have no idea whether to tell them that there is a double meaning with this because I actually believe they know that there is a different way to take it. I wanted to take her to my son’s basebal

QUESTION FOR BoMR (Both of My Readers): How would you handle the situation?
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9 Responses to “Eat Me!”

  1. lilacspecs Says:
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Bwahahahaha!
    No, but really, if I were you I’d mention the double entendre (spelling?) to her parents maybe. then leave it up to them to decide.

    lilacspecs’s last blog post..Dona Nobis Pacem

  2. Kristina Says:
    June 5th, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Hilarious!

    We had a couple of Japanese high school students stay with us for a week back when I was 13 or so. Their male friend, about 14 or 15 (who was staying in another house down the street) ended up being quite smitten with the pre-pubescent version of me…

    Anyway, their visit happened to be during my birthday, so we all thought it might be fun to invite the three of them along with my friends so they could experience a normal American birthday party. The boy had picked out a necklace for me – nothing expensive – but he had wrapped it really beautiful, feminine wrapping paper. Of course he had no idea what it said on the paper – “Congratulations on your baby shower”.

    We just didn’t mention it at all…but the memory is priceless.

    Kristina’s last blog post..Playing hookie

  3. Penelope Says:
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

    Oh blimey! That’s hilarious!
    You probably should point them in the right direction, she may have other, (even worse)shirts!

  4. sophie Says:
    June 5th, 2008 at 6:53 pm

    I think I agrree with lilacspecs. Since it is likely that they do not understand the sexual connotation, it makes sense to clue them in. If it were Coco, you would want to know, right?
    I had a similar situation at work, but being that this was a woman I had no relationship, I didn’t say anything. Mom spoke only spanish, and her daughter was wearing panties that said, “Don’t Beg.” She was also 13.

    sophie’s last blog post..The changing of the earrings..and a bit about showers

  5. Brenda Starr Says:
    June 5th, 2008 at 9:53 pm

    Well, depending on the location of the cherries….a double entendre would be obvious…don’t you think?

  6. Chuck Says:
    June 6th, 2008 at 10:49 am

    I too must agree with lilacspecs. It seems that mentioning it to the parents would be the right thing to do. Of course, this does give you a good reason to carry around a nice long flannel shirt to cover up uninitiated visitors from another country.

    Chuck’s last blog post..Head Heart Hands Health

  7. Deb (Missives From Suburbia) Says:
    June 7th, 2008 at 10:04 pm

    I’d probably just blog about it. *insert shoulder shrug here*

    Deb (Missives From Suburbia)’s last blog post..A Boy’s Best Friend

  8. Meg Says:
    June 11th, 2008 at 7:37 am

    Sounds like one of those inimitable shirts from engrish.com!! I would tell your cousin. Definitely. For sure…before SHE ends up on engrish.com!!

  9. Fox Says:
    August 8th, 2008 at 6:14 pm

    When stuck in this type of situation, I usually think about it this way…Hmmm…if it were my 13 year old daughter and I were clueless to the “other” meaning…what would I want someone to do for me?

    Fox’s last blog post..Observations of an aunt….

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