# Modern Family 12/7 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456 "2011-12-08T02:53:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/41 "2011-12-09T19:43:05Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Every once in a while we get to see that Jay is a good man. > > BUT- anyone selling a valuable vintage autographed baseball card would have it in an protective case. Almost took me out of the story. > > … Yeah, that bit bothered me, too. Also, after he crushed it repeatedly did he walk over and throw it in the dumpster? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/42 "2011-12-09T19:54:14Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Yeah, that bit bothered me, too. Also, after he crushed it repeatedly did he walk over and throw it in the dumpster? I never thought for a moment it was a genuine DiMaggio card - a back-alley transaction with a shady-looking guy found via Craigslist? C’mon. It was probably a **Dom** (his brother) DiMaggio card, if it was even a DiMaggio. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/43 "2011-12-09T19:59:50Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > “Partner” is better, but “boyfriend” has always sounded temporary to me. There was a whole episode in which they made the point that they want Jay to use the term “boyfriend.” And we’ve had this discussion repeatedly on these boards, in modern American society, “boyfriend” doesn’t imply temporary. All the people I know with unmarried life partners use it. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/44 "2011-12-09T20:07:26Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > “Partner” is better, but “boyfriend” has always sounded temporary to me. Not gay, but I’ve been in a relationship for over eleven years now — living together for over eight. It _does_ feel weird calling her my girlfriend, but there just doesn’t seem to be a good word for it. “Co-caretaker of my pets?” ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/45 "2011-12-09T20:13:13Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > _“I have two daddies.”_ and Manny’s identification with the Butterball were hilarious. > > _“45 seconds?”_ I missed the 45 seconds line, what was the context… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/46 "2011-12-09T20:14:29Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > I missed the 45 seconds line, what was the context… Jay permitted Cam to hug him for “four-to-five seconds” and Cam nearly busted a gasket when he thought it was “forty-five seconds.” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/47 "2011-12-09T20:15:54Z")
Outside watching everyone play in the snow, Jay told Cam he could hug him “for 4 to 5 seconds.” Cam squealed “45 seconds?” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/48 "2011-12-09T21:21:40Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I never thought for a moment it was a genuine DiMaggio card - a back-alley transaction with a shady-looking guy found via Craigslist? C’mon. It was probably a **Dom** (his brother) DiMaggio card, if it was even a DiMaggio. Also, if I agreed on a price for the thing online and then the guy tried to up it in person I’d walk away on general principal. It means the guy’s not honest and if he’s not honest about then it then what else is he lying about (e.g. the card’s stolen, or it’s fake, etc.). Funny scene (especially the Butterball), but it strained believability in many ways even for a sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/49 "2011-12-09T22:31:22Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > We replayed the “On Dasher! On Dancer! On Prancer! On Vixen! Hey, that really worked out!” bit a couple times, but on the 1st replay we caught the look that Jay gives Phil at the end, which we missed the first time since we were laughing so hard. The look was the perfect capper to the whole sequence. > > And I can’t help wondering how Haley convinced the guy to give her his Target uniform. Ok, she probably just asked, but I like wondering about it anyway. I was wondering about Haley and the Target guy myself. That scene reminded me of similar scenarios in action movies, where the hero nabs a uniformed guard, knocks them out or kills them, and then dons the eliminated guard’s uniform. It did give me a chuckle thinking about that! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/50 "2011-12-10T00:33:04Z")
Do Targets in California really have the option of paper bags? That really took me out of the episode because every Target I’ve ever been in has only plastic bags. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/51 "2011-12-10T00:42:18Z")
Most cities in California have banned plastic bags entirely. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/52 "2011-12-10T01:12:47Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > Jay actually referred to Cam as “my son’s boyfriend” this episode, and I found it kind of jarring… I find this rather jarring as well. Not so much Jay saying it, but Mitchell as described Cam as his boyfriend several times. > [@jsc1953](#): > > They always refer to each other as “partner” or “boyfriend”. California had a very small window for legal gay marriage; they must have missed it. If the show’s still running when California relegalizes same-sex marriage we’re going to get a big zany wedding episode. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/53 "2011-12-10T01:15:11Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > And I can’t help wondering how Haley convinced the guy to give her his Target uniform. Ok, she probably just asked, but I like wondering about it anyway. Target does sell red collard shirts. I figured she just nabbed one, put it on, and got a nametag somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/54 "2011-12-10T03:25:25Z")
What store were they shopping in? I couldn’t tell… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/55 "2011-12-10T06:09:22Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > Jay actually referred to Cam as “my son’s boyfriend” this episode, and I found it kind of jarring. Maybe not Mitchell so much, but Cam strikes me as the marrying type. Even if it’s not legal, many gays go ahead and have the ceremonies and use the titles and whatnot after a certain point. At least the ones I know do, am I nuts? > > Anyway, I just think it’s a bit odd that with one child and another in the planning, they’re not more formal about it. “Partner” is better, but “boyfriend” has always sounded temporary to me. I often refer to my partner as my “boyfriend” (among other titles). It depends on the context. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/56 "2011-12-10T06:37:22Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Target does sell red collard shirts. I figured she just nabbed one, put it on, and got a nametag somehow. But the shirt looked like a Mens XL (or XXL she really was swimming in it). If she grabbed one off the rack, she would have picked one that fit. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/57 "2011-12-10T11:11:41Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > But the shirt looked like a Mens XL (or XXL she really was swimming in it). If she grabbed one off the rack, she would have picked one that fit. I just assumed she’d used her “womanly charms” on the guy we saw her follow and via that got his clothing. Weren’t we all thinking that? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/58 "2011-12-10T13:01:18Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > I just assumed she’d used her “womanly charms” on the guy we saw her follow and via that got his clothing. Weren’t we all thinking that? Yes. It was a young kid and he’d presumably be wooed by her charms. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456/59 "2011-12-10T13:04:41Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > I just assumed she’d used her “womanly charms” on the guy we saw her follow and via that got his clothing. Weren’t we all thinking that? All of us except Sir T-Cups. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-family-12-7/605456.md?page=2)