Keep It Next To The Striped Paint

(In scouting it is common for younger scouts to get hazed. One such jape is the old “skyhook” gag. The newest scout is tasked with getting a “skyhook” from the other troops, so the “smoke shifter” could be set. Of course, neither thing really exists. A young scout arrives from another troop.)

Young Scout: “Do you guys have a skyhook?”

Me: *knowing the joke but playing along* “Skyhook? What’s that?”

Young Scout: “A skyhook. My Scoutmaster sent me over here to get a skyhook, so we can adjust the smoke shifter, and we won’t get smoke in our eyes.”

(My dad, the Scoutmaster, is known as an avid junk collector. He had brought with him a log roller he had found at a flea market. A log roller is a stout handle with a swiveling hook on the end. Most kids born after the 1970s would have no idea what it is.)

Dad: *handing him the log roller* “Just be sure to have it back by sundown.”

(Whoever this kid was, my dad sure made his day. I could only imagine the look on the faces of the other troop when he came running back, log roller held over his head, yelling “I got one! I got one!”)