Badass

Urban Dictionary defines badass like this:

The epitome of the American male. He radiates confidence in everything he does, whether it's ordering a drink, buying a set of wheels, or dealing with women. He's slow to anger, brutally efficient when fighting back.

The badass carves his own path. He wears, drives, drinks, watches, and listens to what he chooses, when he chooses, where he chooses, uninfluenced by fads or advertising campaigns. Badass style is understated but instantly recognizable. Like a chopped Harley or a good pair of sunglasses: simple, direct, and functional.

Yesterday, I was helping my father-in-law build a platform to protect storage items from moisture on the ground. When you're working with your hands there is a chance despite the best efforts for injury to occur. It happens to everyone who does work with their hands. Even office staff get paper cuts. However, when you're building things using tools the injuries can get a little more serious that a paper cut. My father-in-law fell victim twice to injury yesterday.

Now, I've hit my thumb with a hammer and I've gotten splinters handling wood, I've stepped on a nail and it went right into my foot, by the way I didn't bleed, it hurt. I stopped what I was doing, cursed my kicked or thrown the hammer or board or whatever I was working on. I failed at the Badass definition because I was quick to anger. Yesterday I saw how a Badass would handle that same situation.

My father-in-law shot himself with the nail gun yesterday. YOU know a construction nail gun! Luckily it wasn't in a place that would be likely to kill him, although if I had a choice I could think of several places I'd rather take a nail than where he took it. The crazy thing is he just kind of said, "huh" to which I responded in shocked fashion, "ya ight man?!" Now any person would think or expect his response to be something about the pain, but he said, "Yeah the nail hit a knot in the wood and bent out, just don't tell Terry."

I was floored, he kept working, didn't cuss, didn't stop and his biggest concern was his wife getting on to him, which she would have. I could hardly do anything because I was stunned. I like to think of myself as a badass, but I know I'm just a wanna be. My father-in-law took a nail in the finger... right under the nail. You know it hurts just when you cut your nails too short and this man took a nail from a nail gun under the finger nail. (Too many nails in that sentence)

He later said, after I asked him again if he was ok, "My daddy said shake it off" and I realized I'm not around enough men. Real men. I'm around a bunch of guys who've been left to themselves and have gotten the idea their badasses when we're not.