Touche

I spent this last weekend in Nebraska with my family.

My sister, Molly, is 5 years older than me. I am not the hippest person ever, but sometimes I am astounded at the pop culture that just goes sailing over her head. I found in Nebraska that she is not familiar with the revered "nose goes" rule of responsibility.

It seems this is a fairly localized custom, so let me take a moment to explain. When you are with a group of people, and something has to be done that no one wants to do, you put your finger on your nose and say "Nose goes!" The last person to touch their nose has to get the beers, call for pizza, google the urban dictionary meaning of 'dirty sanchez', etc. If you are among a group of 'nose goes' savvy people, all you have to do is put your finger on your nose and the message is clear. But be warned, that is only for the very cool.

So we're sitting around the dinner table and no one wants to clear 8 people's dishes. I put my finger and yell "nose goes!" I then have to explain to my entire extended family what the hell I'm doing.

The next night, my sister and I have been reading in bed (we are sharing a room because, let's review, we are in Nebraska and sleeping in a guesthouse) and its time for someone to get their ass up and turn off the light. I say nothing but make a quick physical gesture that is so enthusiastic that the whole bed shakes. There's a beat of silence. Then my sister says "are you doing that nose thing?" She sighs and gets up and turns off the light.

The next day we are at a family reunion, surrounded by people we've never met before, who are talking about people I've never heard of before. It was disturbing to realize I was related to an entire ROOM full of Nebraskans, but all the same, it had me thinking about family trees and geneology lines and all that shit.

I am spending all this time hearing about people begetting people and everyone is reproducing, and my sister and I seem to be slacking off in this department. I turn to Molly and say "Damn. We need to have some kids."

Molly looks at me and without missing a beat, she coolly lifts her hand to her face, and places her finger on her nose.

Well played, big sis. Well played.