Petting Zoo.

Petting is a strange term rarely heard outside of Utah and pretty much confined within the group of believers living there. I remember the first time I heard it when I was a little kid. Eavesdropping on a conversation my mom was having with another lady. They were talking about some teenager that was in some kind of trouble because he had been "petting" with his girlfriend. Well this sounded kind of crazy to me so I perked up my ears and feigned interest in other things and moved closer to try and figure this out. At least it wasn't "heavy petting" she says.

What the hell was this I wondered. Picturing a boy and girl petting each other - patting each others heads and stroking their noses. I didn't really see the appeal but what did I know. Heavy petting I guessed must be rolling over and giving a good belly scratch or something. Dogs like it so must be something teenagers like too.

As I got older and figured out what it really was I have to say it sounded much better than I originally thought.

I remember the tedious uncomfortable interviews with the bishop. Always had to ask "Any petting?" You could go two ways here - lie or admit to it. I just shrugged once and that didn't work any better. Some bishops were cool, some uncomfortable and some wanted to know way too much. Just doing their job I guess.

Anyway it turns out that petting was pretty fun, heavy petting even better and seriously they need a new term for it.