Post #109813 by Satan's Sin on Mon, Aug 23, 2004 2:16 PM

Dennis the Menace.

When I was a little kid in Tampa I went to the County Fair. Was tremendously excited because a real Mercury Capsule was on display. Waited patiently in line with hundreds of other kids for a peek inside.

But Jay North -- the actor who played Dennis -- was in Tampa for some reason, and suddenly --

Jay North’s entourage burst into the pavilion. His goons (men with brush haircuts and gray suits) rudely pushed through, throwing the entire line into disarray, and the gooniest goon of them all had Jay North in his arms, like a groom carrying a tiny bride, and he grimly carried the actor to the capsule for his privileged peek.

Jay just smiled benevolently and enjoyed himself, entirely accustomed to this sort of treatment, while the rest of us “nobody” kids let out with a communal “hey, what the -- “

I cursed Jay North on that day. And as we all know, his career was ruined.

Moreover, when my kids were little I told them this story and their little hearts burst with righteous outrage. For days afterward my wife kept telling me how they’d come up to her with stern looks on their faces and tell her how much they hated Jay North.

And when my wife told me this, I smiled in grim satisfaction. For I had successfully passed the Torch of Hate from one generation to the next.