Saturday, June 14, 2014


Just Plain Bill

“Grandpa, why do you have a comb
in your back pocket?
 You don’t have any hair.”

As has been said, “Out of the mouths of babes, oft times come gems”, that thought came to mind as my youngest grandson asked his perfectly logical question, Grandpa, why do you have a comb in your back pocket? You don’t have any hair.” To which I didn’t have an appropriate response.

As I age, I continue to notice there are several idiosyncrasies that I possess, about which there may not be rational explanations. My mom always reminded me to have a handkerchief in my pocket at all times (which I do). Is it for a possible sneeze? To offer to a damsel in distress? To wipe away someone’stear? Perhaps to help remove a cinder from someone’s eye?

To my grandson, I finally responded with the comment, “That’s just Goofy Grandpa”, which is a term of endearment my seven grandchildren lovingly use when referring to something grandpa says or does. Works for me!

Back to the idiosyncrasy of my comb: The origin and likely rational reason for carrying a comb dates back to when I was studying self-defense while in the Marine Corps in Japan. My judo instructor, Mr. Nakano, a 10th degree black belt in judo and jujitsu, taught us that whenever possible, have in your possession an object to use as a weapon. Hence, I’ve always carried a comb to provide that edge, regardless of era - whether I had any hair on the top of my head or not!

No comments:

Post a Comment