...why?

True story:

My dad used to work for an international aerospace and engineering company, and him being away for weeks at a time for temporary duty in other countries (and possibly on other planets, too) was a fairly common occurrence. It was his practice to bring an empty suitcase with him on the trip and bring it home full of weird or unusual souvenirs, which he would then keep and give to friends and family as silly gifts over the next few years.

Which is how he came home with a stack of kangaroo testicles from Australia.

To be honest, I didn't know that's what they were until years later. On his first trip to Australia he came home with a large stack of these small light brown leather drawstring pouches just slightly bigger than a ping-pong ball. My dad used his for a change pouch (and still does) and the label on their packages said 'Lucky Pouch'. Which in retrospect is way more inappropriately hilarious than it has any right to be. I don't remember how the subject came up but I do know I was almost out of high school before I was informed--I couldn't figure it out for myself--that the reason they were naturally bulbous in shape was because they were made from tanned kangaroo testicles.

I really wish I was making this up. I don't even know which is weirder: that people make change pouches out of kangaroo balls, or that they keep doing it because people like my dad buy them. Oh well. If nothing else they make really unique gifts, I guess.

Also true: before going on some outing one day he decided he wasn't going to need change for anything so he opted to leave the change pouch at home and just use what he had in his wallet instead. Without thinking about what he was saying, he proceeded to inform my mother of his plans by saying, "Oh, I think I'll just leave my scrotum at home today."

And that's the story of how I ruptured my appendix.