You look like Barney

No, not this Barney.  I frequently give programs on veterinary medicine to school classes, Scout troops, and so forth.  This week the first-graders had a story in their reading book about a veterinarian.  Two of the teachers are clients and asked me if I would come and speak to the class, which I did.  Kids that age may have questions at question time, but just as frequently they simply want their turn in the spotlight.  Hence "questions" along the lines of "I had a dog once and he was brown."  That’s okay, though.  I just try to catch everybody who gets a hand up at least once, maybe twice.  With the questions, you answer, and with the statements you acknowledge and everybody’s happy.  Sometimes kids can’t think of anything, so they just repeat what the last kid said. "I had a dog and it was brown, too!" The only time it got to me a little was at a preschool class where the first kid’s dog had died.  "I had a dog and it died, too!" Twenty kids with dead dogs…jeez.  Thank goodness the first kid didn’t say I killed it.

As I said, I’m used to that.  On this trip, though, the kid’s question is "Do you ever watch Andy Griffith?  You look just like Barney Fife."  "Thanks, kid, I get that a lot."  That’s not strictly true, though.  I used to get it a lot from my wife and daughter whenever I put on my Scout uniform.  In fact, I’ve tried to roll with the punches and be a good sport (not my strong suit), saying, "I like Scouting because it’s one place where I’m not the only guy who looks like Barney Fife."  Deep down inside, though, I don’t really think that I look like Barney (not that that’s necesarily a bad thing, you understand).  For one thing, I think I have a much stronger chin than Don Knotts.  And what about the glasses?

Here I am at the beginning of our Philmont trek in 2004.  I realize the picture’s not that great, but I cropped it out of the group shot.  Barney Fife?  I don’t think so.

This is after 10 days on the trail and 12 days without a shave.  You can see that really I look more like a young Gabby Hayes.  Barney Fife, indeed.  Hmmph!