I've said before I think my dad is an ass... Not to get in to the whole thing but he never supported my sister or me financially after the divorce. He pulled some shit so he didn't have to, but in reality he would have been more than able and morally he should have.
So I didn't grow up with the things I would have if he was doing his part.
My mom (with help from my grandfather.... Why I took his name) was great at letting me get the things I felt I needed as a kid. But sometimes I couldn't get exactly what I wanted.
There was no better case than Transformers. They had just come out when I was in about sixth grade. I loved them, wanted many, but they were rather expensive.
Enter Gobots.
Gobots where cheaper versions of Transformers. Instead of needing instructions to figure them out all you had to do was flip the hood of the car to reveal a head and then pull out the arms and legs... A blind monkey could figure them out.
But they were much less expensive so that's what I had. Side note I actually liked that they were closer to a matchbox car in construction, but still they weren't Transformers.
Then 20 something years later I was chatting with one of my fave copywriters (now an actor) and we talked about the Gobot vs Transformer situation.
And then we came up with the term "Gobot Poor" (lower middle class kid who didn't go without but got the cheaper alternative to the cool toy.)
Skip about 5 years after we coined the term to the day I was bored and decided to try to get "Gobot Poor" into the Urban Dictionary.
And it was accepted.
So while my father pretty much gave me nothing (except some sappy cassingle of The Living Years once) his assholity did in fact give me something... An entry in the Urban Dictionary.
And for that I thank him.
So I didn't grow up with the things I would have if he was doing his part.
My mom (with help from my grandfather.... Why I took his name) was great at letting me get the things I felt I needed as a kid. But sometimes I couldn't get exactly what I wanted.
There was no better case than Transformers. They had just come out when I was in about sixth grade. I loved them, wanted many, but they were rather expensive.
Enter Gobots.
Gobots where cheaper versions of Transformers. Instead of needing instructions to figure them out all you had to do was flip the hood of the car to reveal a head and then pull out the arms and legs... A blind monkey could figure them out.
But they were much less expensive so that's what I had. Side note I actually liked that they were closer to a matchbox car in construction, but still they weren't Transformers.
Then 20 something years later I was chatting with one of my fave copywriters (now an actor) and we talked about the Gobot vs Transformer situation.
And then we came up with the term "Gobot Poor" (lower middle class kid who didn't go without but got the cheaper alternative to the cool toy.)
Skip about 5 years after we coined the term to the day I was bored and decided to try to get "Gobot Poor" into the Urban Dictionary.
And it was accepted.
So while my father pretty much gave me nothing (except some sappy cassingle of The Living Years once) his assholity did in fact give me something... An entry in the Urban Dictionary.
And for that I thank him.
HA! Oh the days of GoBots. I was right there with you.
ReplyDeleteI think I realized that GoBots weren't the same thing as Transformers when I got one of the GoBots that turned into a rock. Seriously...a rock?!
Good to know that it's official and the term "GoBot Poor" is a real term and nothing like giving credit where credit is due.