Bonder of Hins

My boss recently asked my coworker to send out a letter she had written. In the letter, she indicated that she would be sending a "bonder of hins" to the recipient. My coworker went to her and said, "Um, what's a bonder of hins?" Turns out it was a type-o for "binder of hints." But I liked the term so much when my colleague told me this story that we came up with all these great ways to use the word. Kinda like "snicklesnackle" it can mean everything - or nothing! For example:

"I'm thinking about bonder of hins for lunch today."
"The doctors think it's bonder of hins..."
"Shut up, you bonder of hins!"
"Man, my bonder of hins is really acting up!"
"What do I do for a living? I'm a bonder of hins."
"For vacation this year, we're going to bonder of hins."
"She drives a bonder of hins."
"Well, will you get a load of that bonder of hins!"
"I think I'm coming down with bonder of hins..."
"You'd better watch out for that bonder of hins!"
"He's a real bonder of hins alright."
"Where did you get that bonder of hins?!"
"Has anyone seen my bonder of hins?"
"I can't tonight, I've got to go to bonder of hins."

This reminded me of how the defining question when you meet someone new is, "What do you do for a living?" Once this question has been asked, you will be immediately judged by your answer. And all future interactions with the asker will be based on your answer, as well.

I hate the idea of being defined by what I do in order to make money so that I can have a life. Maybe for some people, their jobs are their lives, but not me. I want to be known for who I am, not what I do for work.

Back when internet stalkers weren't quite so prevelant, I had a profile on my e-mail account. For occupation, I put, "Personality Enhancement and Development." I started telling people this when they asked what I did for a living.

"What do you do?"
"Personality Enhancement and Development."
"Oh. What kind of college courses did you have to take for that?"

That's the funny thing - most people took it seriously and asked what that involved, where I went to school, etc. Rarely, someone would bust up laughing, and that was the kind of person who "gets it" more than most.

When it was on my e-mail profile, I started getting spam about seminars in "Personnel Development" so I guess I wasn't too far off from a real occupation. Sometimes, when people asked me what kinds of things I had to do, I would reply, "Mostly, I just sit around at home and think..."

Well, I'd do that until my bonder of hins started hurting...