Why Hugging a T-Rex is Not Funny

I wrote a joke on the whiteboard in the residence hall a while back: "Reminder: Sunday is hug a T-rex day!"

Nono and Qing walked in and saw the board. They discussed it together in Mandarin, but eventually the conversation flowed over to me:

Qing: What is a trex?

Me: It is a big dinosaur.

Qing: A dinesor? What is?

Me: With motions. You know, raaaarrrr!

Nono: Oh! She tells Qing in Mandarin what I'm talking about.

Qing: Less confused for a moment, then re-confused. Why should we hug it?

Me: Suddenly at a loss. Because, probably nobody ever hugs them.

Qing: It's dangerous.

Dinosaurs

Me: Dad, I wish I had gone through a dinosaur stage as a child. I was missing out. I really like dinosaurs.

Dad: Well, that's all very nice, but where were you when they were sickly?



I remember one of the most interesting conversations of my life was when Kelly taught me what it is to imagine away boredom. We were maybe 12 years old, and I am sure it was largely motivated by the movie Jurassic Park. As we were in the car headed past fields separated by tree lines, with a forest bordering the horizon, she quietly mentioned, "sometimes, when I'm bored, I picture a pack of velociraptors coming out of the trees."

Ever since, I have often imagined dinosaurs entering into my life. I  especially love the way Dinotopia makes it possible for humans to interact with dinosaurs (specifically the herbivores).