.

Life, actually…

.

PLAYING HYDE-AND-GO-JEKYLL

AT THE HALLOWE’EN BARBIE QUEUE

.

In olden days Down South, we used to sit of an afternoon on the front porch and watch the world sneak by. It was great fun.

.

We porch-sitters were just us. Everybody who passed by constituted the World as we didn’t know it. All passers-by were mysterious and perplexing—thus, entertaining.

.

We had no idea who these apparitions were, but our colorful imaginations allowed us to guess, to make up lives and stories to go along with what we saw. Our unfettered daydreams painted exciting back-stories to go along with clueless visitors.

.

Short-attention-spans were not yet invented. At least we didn’t call them short-attention-spans. Probably paid close attention to those split seconds of observation, then filed them away in memory, then awaited the next fleeting visitations. No time to label or distort or criticize. Just along for the ride.

.

These days, front porches no longer seem to matter as much. Our motorized vehicles are porches-in-motion. We drive by the world in place of the world’s driving past us.

.

One artifact from those old Down South days remains: Dad jokes.

.

Yep, I still crack Dad jokes. Only now they have evolved into granddad and great-granddad jokes. They haven’t changed much. Just ask my grown kids and groaning grandkids.

.

An example might help. We are in our mobile front porch and cruise by a movie emporium where people are lined up to see the latest trendy film.

.

“Looks like a Barbie queue,” I the village elder comment. If any young’un is listening there will be a moan or a chuckle accompanied by a momentary smile. One Dad Joke down and billions to come.

.

Luckily for the world and family at large, most of my quips are silently written down for later use. Most are not heard by anyone but yours truly. This is my small gift to world peace.

.

For instance, Hallowe’en is coming up. Soon a story about Hallowe’en will compose itself and appear online and on paper. Time to recall horror stories that remain in Recall Storage. We kids used to play a game called Hide-and-Go-Seek. In Dad Joke world, this now becomes a game called Hyde-and-Go-Jekyll. It’s more fun at this time of year.

.

And so on.

.

Thanks for paying attention. It won’t last long because you are probably busy composing your next Dad Joke or Mom Joke.

.

I hope you cause groans even louder than mine

.

© Jim Reed 2023 A.D.

.