We had a really great Game Warden in my area where I grew up. "Mr. Jones" was a very no-nonsense kind of man, but also very fair and decent. Case in point, when I was in grade school, a new kid transferred in one day. For some reason, "Bobby" and I hit it off right away, and we became instant buddies. You could tell "Bobby" came from a poor family by the way he was dressed - his clothes were clean, but they looked like something the Salvation Army would probably throw away. It was rumored that his dad poached to feed his family, and that "Mr. Jones" simply chose to look the other way regarding his illegal activities.
One day, for some reason, he didn't bring his sack lunch with him, and he had to eat cafeteria food like the rest of us. He actually picked a good day in the cafeteria as they were serving hamburgers! All of us kids were happily chowing down on our hamburgers when I noticed "Bobby" was sitting there crying, and he hadn't touched his hamburger. The teachers tried to find out what was wrong, but "Bobby" wouldn't talk to anyone. Finally, one of the teachers asked me to go outside with him to find out what was wrong.
Once outside, "Bobby" said he knew he was poor, but why did they have to feed him rotten deer meat? What??? Turns out, "Bobby" had grown up on wild game, and had never even seen hamburger meat until that day. He thought that because his family was poor he was being fed "charity food", i.e. ruined or spoiled venison. When I told him the hamburger came from a cow, he had trouble believing that. I had to show him my hamburger was the same as his, heck, I even offered to trade burgers with him to prove everything was okay. After that, no problem, but "Bobby" did say he preferred his mom's cooking over cafeteria food - proving he was no dummy!
I don't know if "Bobby's" dad was a poacher, but I suspect it was true, and that "Mr. Jones" knew that he was simply providing for his family, and chose to exercise some discretion in the matter.
Another story later on about "Mr. Jones"
Regards,
Dave
One day, for some reason, he didn't bring his sack lunch with him, and he had to eat cafeteria food like the rest of us. He actually picked a good day in the cafeteria as they were serving hamburgers! All of us kids were happily chowing down on our hamburgers when I noticed "Bobby" was sitting there crying, and he hadn't touched his hamburger. The teachers tried to find out what was wrong, but "Bobby" wouldn't talk to anyone. Finally, one of the teachers asked me to go outside with him to find out what was wrong.
Once outside, "Bobby" said he knew he was poor, but why did they have to feed him rotten deer meat? What??? Turns out, "Bobby" had grown up on wild game, and had never even seen hamburger meat until that day. He thought that because his family was poor he was being fed "charity food", i.e. ruined or spoiled venison. When I told him the hamburger came from a cow, he had trouble believing that. I had to show him my hamburger was the same as his, heck, I even offered to trade burgers with him to prove everything was okay. After that, no problem, but "Bobby" did say he preferred his mom's cooking over cafeteria food - proving he was no dummy!
I don't know if "Bobby's" dad was a poacher, but I suspect it was true, and that "Mr. Jones" knew that he was simply providing for his family, and chose to exercise some discretion in the matter.
Another story later on about "Mr. Jones"
Regards,
Dave
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