How do I look now, Bob. Is it bad??

When I was a child my mother would say, "Watch out for the stove, it's hot." Or, "Don't put your fingers in the light socket." On some occasions she would say "Stop fighting you two, or I'm calling the police" and that would really shake us up good and end up making all of us mad at her instead of each other - but that's a post for another time. Anyways, even though my mom told me the stove was hot, and not to play with matches in the house, and looking at girls would turn me to ash - I still didn't listen. I'm not sure why, maybe because she was only right on two out of three. But from my life experiences, like being shocked a few times, I now know and understand why my mother was concerned for my safety. (My wife's concerned for my safety sometimes too, perhaps a few more shocks would fix me...)

I'm reminded of the joke where the doctor asks the patient what's wrong and the patient says, "It hurts when I do... this." The doctor says, "Don't do that."

What do kids, bad jokes, and fish have in common??? Other than the fact that they're all flaky, not much - but I'll try to piece something together for you anyway so it sounds like I thought this out. Out of the three, only fish never learn their lesson.

After I got burnt on the stove and stuck a paper clip in a light socket, I tried not to do it again. It hurt. I doubt the patient really needed the good Dr.'s advice. But fish... now that's a whole lot of weird goin' on right there.

How many times do you think a fish can be caught on the same lure? I can tell you it's at least three in one night. They just can't learn their lesson. That fake worm is just too tempting, that minnow that's swimming funny just looks too juicy to ignore. You know they're down there in the water just thinking, "Oh hey, Bob (seems like a good name for a fish). Weird, there goes that worm again. Wasn't it just by here a second ago?" "Yeah, I think it was. Man, it's looking pretty tasty though... must... eat... AGHHHHH! Damn it, that hurts!! What tha... hey where we goin'? I don't wanna go that way. Get this thing out of my face, its pokin' my brain!" And the same conversation must repeat itself as soon as you throw him back.

No matter what it is in life, you must learn your lesson. It's what separates us from the fish. Ok, it's ONE thing that separates us from the fish... I'll let everyone else debate it. No fighting though, or I'll call the police...

---

Note: There's a lot of analogies to made on the topic of fishing. I'll try to hit them all at some point in my life - I just couldn't fit them all in tonight.