Carp

 "When a thing is funny, search it for a hidden truth.'' ~ George Bernard Shaw

Gadabout Gaddis, the Flying Fisherman.

 Gentle Readers and Loved Ones,

I have probably flogged the dead fish story as much as I can. A wise writer would stop now, but I can't help it, I'm gonna tell this story.  I hang my head in shame for what I'm about to write....

Way back in the early 60s, there was a short lived TV show:  “The Flying Fisherman” featuring Gadabout Gaddis.  Gaddis is actually the main reason why I called this blog “The Gadabout” those many years ago when I had to come up with a name.  He was my first exposure to the word in his TV show in my youth.  How could I not name my blog after a guy who flew around to different places and told stories?

I bring this up because the Goldfish Apocalypse/Piscicide just reminded of a hoary old story about Mr Gaddis. 

It seems that the Flying Fisherman was enormously proud of the fact that he never got skunked.  He always caught a fish.  ( OK, I know the wiki link I just shared specifically makes me liar here...work with me on this, please? )

Until that fateful day when the only fish he caught was a carp.  The next day it occurred again.  And then again.  Because no one eats Carp and because he was a humanitarian, he just tossed those carp into a pool on his property.  Of course, he had a breeding pair and soon his pool was full of carp. 

He didn’t know what to do.  He didn’t want to waste the fish but he couldn’t keep multiplying the stock. 

A friend mentioned that he knew a leather worker who might be interested in Carp Skin.  Sure enough, when Mr Gaddis called the leatherworker he said, “Yes, I have had some success with skinning carp and using them to make what are traditionally leather goods.” 

So, he came over to the pool, gathered up a mess of Carp and went back to his leather shop.  He learned he could make pretty nice wallets out of Carp skin and soon Gadabout and the leather worker were known all over the country for their “Carp to Carp Walleting.”

On that note, I remain,

Dad/Geoff