Ghetto Slang

Being from the hood of Ann Arbor (Stonebridge specifically, or as my brothers dubbed it, "The BRIDGE" - Bomb-Riding-Illiterate-Dope-Gangstas - no "E" they're illiterate.)

I will freely admit that because of my upbringing, I am known to easily toss around the occasional dope, straight, or tiggity-tight bit of ebonic sweetness. It wasn't until yesterday though that I realized I am so much a part of my background, that the hood is indeed such an integral part of me, that I often do so without even realizing it.

We were wrapping up our final day of shooting (not the gun kind, lest I've confused you with all the hood-rat talk) when Noel, our project sponsor at LA Health Care came down to tell us thanks and goodbye. Let me set the scene. Brian, Micah and Nick (Root folk) are breaking down the last of the equipment on one side of the room, and I am standing at the other side of the room with Noel (the ethnically ambiguous LAHC boss), Karen Garman, (the white, 50 yr old consultant who sold LAHC this project), and Cherie (the African-American LAHC employee who was helping direct). Emily who was the project lead for LAHC found out her grandfather died that morning and was unable to be with us. I assumed with the funeral and what-not that she would be out of work for the next several days. Ok, so you've got the scene and the cast of playa's... I mean characters.

In the midst of my conversation with Noel, Karen and Cherie, I tell them that I will probably need to be in contact with them at the beginning of next week to finalize some details on a couple games, AND, "who should I contact, because I assume Emily will be OUT OF POCKET."

Noel looks at me with a baffled expression on her face and says, "What do you mean? What is this....out of pocket??" Now I'm confused. I can't figure out if she's joking or if she is speaking a foreign language or if I am on Candid Camera. (I'm hoping it's the last one, cause I'd love it if that show was back!) I then reply, "Ummm...what do YOU mean?" Karen looks a little confused too and all of a sudden Cherie jumps in and she says, "Oh, she doesn't understand you, cause that's Ghetto talk. Out of pocket is Ghetto slang." Noel looks a little less confused, because now she understands she SHOULDN'T get "out of pocket" she's not from the ghetto...like me.

At this point I am trying not to bust a gut, but at least I understand it's the phrase she is confused about and I explain that out of pocket is indeed my Ann Arbor Ghetto slang for unavailable, out of the office, or in some cases (not this one) really "tight" or "the bomb-diggity". As in, "Girl you are seriously out of pocket. Look at you in those jeans." Get it?

All was finally resolved, the project wrapped, and I am left incredibly relieved that Cherie was there to help bridge the gap between my crazy ghetto slang and Noel's ethnically ambiguous lifestyle away from the world of "street-cred."

** Editors note: I was just informed by one of my readers that this blog is confusing and that you can't tell if I was serious or not in thinking/writing that 'out of pocket' was ghetto slang. Let me clarify - NO. The thing that was so funny (and there's nothing funnier than trying to explain humor) was that it IS NOT ghetto slang, that the corporate boss lady thought it was, and that Cherie who the boss lady trusted as a ghetto slang spokesperson really thought it was too and believed she was clarifying the situation for everyone by saying it was. The whole thing was a bizarre English language fiasco. Somewhat like this post apparently.