Tuesday

You Better Put Out

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You better put out forest fires. I wrote this post before even verifying the correct quote. I was thinking all along of Smokey the Bear's slogan. The correct quote is "Only you can prevent wildfires". Smokey is of course, the mascot for the United States Forest Service.
I do not see Smokey around much these days. Could be because I don't watch Saturday morning cartoons anymore  Or that they don't have Saturday morning cartoons anymore.
I do not know that his lesson was properly directed towards me having grown up in a very suburban area. Never a camper, never having the opportunity to build a campfire and I never had the chance to burn things down until my late teens early twenties.
I think it was the Ukrainian comedian Yakov Smirnoff who once said, “In Soviet Russia, forest fires prevent you!”
Smokey and the Bandit
Smokey Bear













Today is day five of the thirty day writing challenge (February edition) as arranged and hosted by Nicky and Mike over at WeWorkForCheese.com. Go check out their site to see what they wrote and see all the other participants.
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30 comments:

  1. http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.comFebruary 5, 2013 at 7:39 AM

    You've obviously never gone camping with me, Shawn. Better bring an ax.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.comFebruary 5, 2013 at 7:39 AM

      And matches... lots of matches.

      Delete
    2. Indigo RothFebruary 5, 2013 at 4:33 PM

      Don't do it Shawn. At the very least, tell someone where you're going.

      Delete
    3. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:53 PM

      Axe? What Are you planning on doing to me?

      Indigo, I'm scared.

      Delete
  2. nonamedufusFebruary 5, 2013 at 7:57 AM

    As a 12 year-old kid my buddy and I used to sneak off to the woods and smoke cigarettes. Things got smokey but amazingly we never set the forest on fire.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:54 PM

      In my neighbourhood we would have had to sneak off into the tree.

      I think there was one.

      Delete
  3. NickyFebruary 5, 2013 at 8:41 AM

    They still have Saturday morning cartoons. Except now they start Saturday morning and continue on through until Friday night.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BryanFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:40 AM

      I think it's called the Cartoon Network.

      Delete
    2. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:55 PM

      The 24-7 cartoons takes off the shine of waiting until early Saturday morning, grabbing a bowl of cereal and a blanket and sitting in front of the TV.

      Delete
  4. Bryan G. RobinsonFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:41 AM

    On a side note, Smokey and the Bandit is one of my favorite movies. I wish you had done more with that aspect of it. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:57 PM

      Although incorrectly I was able to tie Smokey The Bear to the theme and Smoky & The Bandit to the bear. I was going to do something about BJ & The Bear but I didn't like any of the pictures I found.

      Delete
  5. ZivaFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:52 AM

    I like Soviet Russia's take on the problem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:59 PM

      In the US, you can catch a cold.
      In Soviet Russia, cold catches you!

      Delete
    2. KZFebruary 6, 2013 at 12:27 AM

      I'm always down for a Yakov Smirnoff homage. Some of those Smokey commercials used to disturb me as a kid. They would always show you pencil-animated forest fires F-ing up the wilderness, and it made you feel like crap for being a human being in the industrialized world. Man, what was Smokey's problem?

      Delete
  6. P.J.February 5, 2013 at 12:42 PM

    Smokey and the Bandit could have totally worked for this prompt. Such as when Bandit picked up Sally Field's character. Ya know. They got friendly with one another.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:59 PM

      Ahhh! Should have thought of that, "you better put out".

      Delete
  7. MikeWJ at Too Many MorningsFebruary 5, 2013 at 12:43 PM

    I may have set a forest on fire one year with some buddies of mine. I'd forgotten all about it until now. I wonder if there's a statute of limitations on setting forest fires?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 11:03 PM

      The universal limitation is fifteen to thirty years depending on which territory.

      Better start running.


      Delete
  8. Tami Von ZalezFebruary 5, 2013 at 12:55 PM

    I think Smokey has been "re-thought" by the fire experts - seems fire suppression has given way to wildland fire use. Course, there still is the teenage boy factor ^

    ReplyDelete
  9. LindaFebruary 5, 2013 at 12:55 PM

    I never went camping either, but I have built or rekindled fires from a bonfire or in the fireplace. I'd find a coal buried in the ashes, get a flame going with some paper and add what Mom called crow sticks (small sticks and branches). Voila, a toasty warm fire to warm ones feet.

    I don't know about cartoons either, but I remember...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 11:14 PM

      I think I will fill my tub with logs and get some marshmallows.

      Delete
  10. laughingmomFebruary 5, 2013 at 2:13 PM

    I've never built a campfire either but have had a three alarm fire. Does that count?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shawn OharaFebruary 5, 2013 at 11:08 PM

      The closest thing I have is making toast in the morning.

      Delete
  11. MalisaFebruary 5, 2013 at 3:15 PM

    Maybe you don't see Smokey the Bear anymore because you don't hang out in national forests. He is still there!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Indigo RothFebruary 5, 2013 at 6:18 PM

    "Daddy, the top came off!"

    Ha! Classic!

    ReplyDelete
  13. KatherineFebruary 5, 2013 at 9:03 PM

    You know, I never thought about Smokey and his NAME. Smokey... starting forest fires with his cigarette butts?

    ReplyDelete

Thoughts?

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