A Story: "Johnnie and the Teenager"

An old guy is sitting at his RV by the dock when a young father and his 3 boys come back from fishing off Fiesta Key. The father gives instructions out and, in no time, the boat is secured and the 4 or 5 small fish have been filleted. The last item to be pulled from the fish well is a live lobster and it is quickly removed to their campsite down the way. The old guy watches all of this as he drinks a Bud at his picnic table.

The older of the 3 boys (maybe 14) hangs out on the dock fiddling around with his gear probably waiting for his Mom to call him for his supper. The old guy was pretty impressed that they caught a lobster so much so that he told his wife who was standing near by. He then made eye contact with the kid and asked, "Hey, where did you catch that lobster?"

The kid answered, "Out there" and pointed out towards the bay offFiesta Key. The old guy, who was no farther ahead with that answer, asked another question, "How far out there?"

And the kid told the truth and said, "I dunno."

The old guy was wanting to know more about how to get himself a lobster or two. So he made another attempt to learn more and asked, "So... what did you use to catch it?"

The young fella said, "this" and held up a short orange spear with a loop on the end. You could almost hear the old guy thinking that the kid's Dad MUST have got it from Bass Pro or that local dive shop down the road. The old guy couldn't resist and said, "so you must have got that from someplace real special."

The kid stared back as if the old guy was from Mars and suddenly made his face twist up - a look quite common to 14-year olds when they're talking to adults. The kid then offered his worldly knowledge about his little plastic spear with the loop on the end and said, "At the Kamp store!", meaning, of course, the KOA camp store.

The old guy looked back and said, "Oh".

The kid's Mom then called him for their fresh fish and lobster dinner. And the old guy's wife, who had observed the entire scene, thought it was time they both had another drink.