The "Dan Disclaimer"

*A Disclaimer to this post: The language isn't meant to be as lewd as it might sound. It is the words that are used when talking about this issue.*


Our friends have a "Dan disclaimer" that they use whenever they introduce him to new people. It goes like this:

There's this guy that's coming over (or whatever the situation might be), our buddy, Dan. He's a really cool guy and we all like him but we should warn you about him first. He's not really as much of an ass as he might sound like at first. He's a really sweet guy, actually. He just speaks his mind and is a little over the top about issues. But don't take him seriously. He's not really that bad.

And that's it. This disclaimer has come up enough times that it even has a title. We have even noticed siblings of our friends use it when introducing friends... that's how far and wide this diclaimer has become. I've also noticed a different perception of Dan and less patience and acceptance of him by people who never recieved the "Dan disclaimer".
The reason this comes up is that this weekend we are at our friends, Mike and Meghan's, and went to church with them this morning. At church we bumped into some old friends of mine who know and love Dan like we all do and the topic of the "Dan disclaimer" came up (probably after he said something brutal). We were all trying to figure out why it was so important that people see that he isn't really that ass that he portrays himself to be because he really is actually sweet. And Sue says.... the point is... "The sweetness comes in the ass".