Barney Time

Since the 50th anniversary of the first Flintstone episode was 30 September, and the first Andy Griffith episode premiered 3 October, 1960, I thought that it would be a good time to dust this one off. Although I wrote this almost ten years ago, it is one of my favorites. bd

Getting older is not the same as getting old..... at least not before you turn 50. I'm here to tell you that it's iffy afterwards. I can remember when "old folks" used to predict the weather with their aches and pains. I laughed then, but it's not nearly as funny as it used to be because I'm beginning to be my own weather channel myself.

When I say Barney, who comes to mind? The answer says a lot about your age and upbringing. I asked the question of a young guy in my office. Without hesitation he said "that purple Dinosaur that the kids watch." He probably watched ol' Barney himself growing up. The purple Barney made his debut in 1987 on PBS and, as far as I know, has been there ever since.

Anyone born between the late 1950s and mid-60s would probably say "Barney Rubble, of course." Along with his wife Betty and son Bam-Bam, this Barney lived next door to Fred, Wilma and Pebbles Flintstone from the fall of 1960 till 1966. Actually, they live on in syndication and on the cartoon channel, as well as a couple of theme parks.

My generation would definitely say Barney Fife who still lives in syndication all over the world. Although he was on "The Andy Griffith Show" for only the first 5 years of the 1960-1968 series, he was certainly a key player. If you have cable, you can probably find an episode playing right now. I have friends that argue that the episodes without Barney are no good. Others say that if it is in color, just turn it off. Still other folks won't watch anything on television that is NOT color. These folks are missing more than Barney and I'm sure would name one of the other Barneys when asked the "Which Barney" question. My guess is that they would say, "The purple one."

"The Andy Griffith Show" has certainly endured the test of time. Teachers use the show in classrooms. There are even Sunday school classes that use the episodes as a basis for lessons.

Ask the Barney question to those of my mama's generation and you will probably get "Barney Google". Barney Google made his debut in 1919 in the comic section of the newspaper. I couldn't pick Barney Google out of a police line-up. Google (the search engine) tells me that Barney is still an infrequent visitor to Snuffy Smith, but how should I know. The only thing I can tell you about Barney Google is that the favorite cheer of my high school Principal was:

"Barney Google, Andy Gump, we've got Dublin up a stump, WOOOOOOA Sparkplug!"

It would be years before I knew that Spark Plug was Barney Google's horse.

The group that we should really feel sorry for is those born between 1968 (when "Andy" went into syndication) and 1987 (when the purple one made his first appearance on PBS.) These folks are very frustrated people. I suspect that a good many of the problems we have today are caused by these “in-between Barney” folks.

This is not to say that the “Purple Barney” crowd is a problem-free lot. Let’s just say I have my doubts about ANYONE who has spent a whole lot of time watching some guy dressed up in a heavily padded fuzzy purple get-up complete with dragging tail and green tummy. I can’t imagine that THAT Barney will be in (rerun) syndication 34 years after it left first-run TV, nor will any Sunday school lessons ever be based on an episode.

I am unabashedly from the “one bullet” Barney crowd. When I see Ron Howard (Opie) on TV with no hair, or Andy all wrinkled and gray, I can hardly believe that it has been so long. They have gotten so much older. Aunt Bee Floyd and Barney are long gone. They taught us so much. Of course, time hasn’t done that much to me. I could go on, but my bifocals are acting up, it’s time for my medicine and my knees tell me it is about to rain. I’ll just close for now by asking you which Barney comes to your mind?

Support what you believe in!

Unemployment is the worst it has been in my lifetime. August, 2010 data reported this last week shows it to be about 10.4% in these parts. A lot of people, businesses, churches, and other charities are really hurting.

I remember a coworker telling me more than 20 years ago about how poor he grew up. Paul said, “I was 16 years old before I knew there was an edible part of a chicken besides the back and feet.” Look around you. What is in your refrigerator, your pantry, your closet? Is it really that bad? Probably not. As Americans, we are a very blessed group of people, even in these hard times.

Mother used to tell me about the starving kinds in Africa and China to get me to eat my vegetables. I told her one time that she could send them my squash; I wasn’t hungry enough to eat squash. (I don’t recall ever saying that but once.)

I have recently written about good intentions. How many times in the last year have we said, “I should send something to that cemetery where grandpa is buried,” or “I should send something to that missionary that I heard a few months ago.” Did you mean that? Have you done it?

At the end of 2009, there were 58,000 storage units worldwide, 50,000 of which are in the US. We have more than 2.35 Billion square feet of stuff in storage (more than three times the size of Manhattan,) much of which is “climate controlled.” If this is usable stuff, why not give it to someone who can use it. (Of course, if it is junk, why are we paying to store it?)

An article last December says that Americans are the most charitable people in the world, giving about $300 Billion to charities each year. But we can give in other ways. We can donate unused items, our time, and even words of encouragement

Every year at this time, one of the blogs I read encourages people to celebrate “ten days of giving” in early October. http://christianpf.com/10daygive/ It won’t be long before we are caught up in the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years whirlwind. I’d say right about now would be a great time to give a little something that you have been meaning to give, but just haven’t. Of course, I am not advocating taking anything away from your normal giving. They need your support too. Why not take some time now to give in a new way.

Support what you believe in!

ps: Here is 101 ways to give http://www.moneyhelpforchristians.com/101-ways-to-give/