Cartoon Moments

Cartoon moments (like Wile E. Coyote's traps for the RoadRunner backfiring; Eek the Cat getting hurt even though "it never hurts to help"; or The Tick getting punched by Santa Clones) are always funny. It's animated slapstick, it looks painful, but no one really gets hurt.

I've had many cartoon moments. I've never been what I would consider seriously injured, never had a broken bone, never been hospitalized (knock on wood), but I've had cartoon moments. One in particular is on my mind today. When I was growing up it was not unusual for the mothers in my neighborhood to help each other when they heard one of their peers yelling for their kids to come home--they would join in and start yelling too. I like to think of it as a real-life version of the signal fires that went out from Gondor to Rohan in LOTR or the barking of messages by dogs in one Disney cartoon or another.

One summer evening as I walked in the woods near my parent's house, I could hear Mrs. B calling me. That meant my mom had been calling for a while, so I ran towards home. As I emerged from the woods I could see Mrs. B on her carport and she could see me. Just then, a 2-foot long board became attached to my foot--it looked like I was wearing a size 37 clown shoe. As I took another another few steps (I guess inertia carried me forward), I heard Mrs. B laughing at the ridiculous sight.

But then I hit the dirt. It's not easy to run with one clown shoe on. It's also not easy to run with a nail sticking through your foot--that's what attached the board to my foot. OMGosh that hurt. Someone had left a board with a huge nail sticking out of it laying in the weeds. It wasn't me. I listened when my dad warned us not to leave nails sticking out of boards--or at least face the nails downwards until you had time to remove them. But some kid in the neighborhood didn't get that message and I got stuck.

After I fell, Mrs. B came to check on me, then scooped me up and carried me home. That was embarassing, especially since the board was still attached. LOL! But I was fine. It was just one of those cartoon moments that looked funny at first, hurt like the dickens, and caused no real damage.

I don't know why, but I found myself thinking about Mrs. B and her hubby today. They were good neighbors and nice people. He's the one who called me Ricademus. I think he thought I was too serious, so he teased me once in a while. They moved in when I was 4. According to legend, when my family went over to introduce ourselves I tugged on Mr. B's pant leg and asked if I looked like him. When he asked why, I told him I was looking for my father. Boy was my mom embarrassed!!! =)

If I decide to turn this into a series and share other cartoon moments, some of the titles could include: "Where's My Eye"; "Was That My Finger"; and "Electricity: Friend or Foe". LOL!