For those who don’t know, a ride or die chick means a gal who is loyal to her partner regardless of the cost, even if it endangers herself. I get this, but not necessarily in terms of a partner. To me there is something a little off about that one. No, I change it a bit to mean a gal who is loyal to her family regardless of the cost, even if it endangers herself. This I completely relate to. I normally live by one rule, you can say and do whatever you want to me, I’ll handle it. But you do F with my family. Nothing gets me more upset than someone messing with someone I love. Call me names, it will slide off my back. Call my mom something, I just see red. And for me family is not just blood. As I previously have written one of the most important people in my life I shared absolutely no blood with. I have friends who are very much my family. And if I get a phone call in the middle of the night from one of them half way across the country and they need me, I will be there.

So this idea of a Ride or Die Chick appeals to me because it is very much how I feel about those I love. But it is not limited to a guy and to be honest, I don’t know if I have ever had a relationship with a man that has ever made me feel that way other than he is my family. Apparently I am already built for it so why wouldn’t it naturally happen to the level were I was also a more traditional ride or die chick. And I think it is because there is something a bit sad about the traditional concept.

So both types are referenced in the Fast and the Furious franchise. Letty and Dom are the ultimate traditional type of ride or die for each other. And I love me some Letty and Dom. But it is also a bit rough because though they have each other backs, they are ultimately bringing each other down in the process. They don’t question each others actions. They don’t encourage each other to be better, just to be safer in the execution of what they are trying to do.

My kind of ride or die is a bit different and that is VERY much on display in Fast and Furious. Ride or Die for your family. Dom will do anything to protect Mia, but he also wants the very best for her. Brian, who starts off getting to be traditional ride or die as a friend with Dom, becomes a family ride or die because of his love for Mia. He wants her safe, he wants the baby safe, and he wants them to have the opportunity to have a better life than the life they are currently living while on the run. Letty and Dom, come around to the family ride or die view because of their love for their family, but if left to themselves would Bonnie and Clyde it up without any hesitation.

And that is where the problem to me lies. Bonnie and Clyde were betrayed by their friends, split up by their family and ultimately died because they truly only had each other. And in this world, that is simply not enough and frankly selfish. Bonnie’s family had to deal with a lot when she ran off with Clyde, and they hated Clyde for it so much they did not allow them to be buried together.

I love the F&F franchise a lot. Like damn, a lot. But I think that is because it gets my world view so much. Family first. And family is not just by blood. There is a certain young man, now married and a dad, who we could not speak to each other for the next twenty years, where he now governor of a colony on Mars and I am building algorithms in a massive super computer deep underground in order to keep its servers cool, if he called me up and said “Hey, I have a political opponent who is messing with me and going after my family, I need help” it wouldn’t even take a heartbeat for me to book the travel and start doing research to find a play to help. That is the other twist, ride or die implies a level of violence but for me, I know where my strengths are. I know where I would help the most. Yes, I guess I could get all grr and such, but lets be honest, a fist won’t solve unemployment or determining if an opportunity is right, ensuring medical care is timely and appropriate while in an ER or even just figuring out how to do their taxes. No, I know how my ride or die is best executed for those I love.

So odd topic, I know. But As I have watched the new trailer for Hobbs and Shaw for the 18th time, I felt the need to talk about this.