Sluggerrr

My assistant, Melanie, picked me up at the airport following my flight home after being the closing governmental keynote speaker for the Oklahoma Certified Public Manager’s meeting recently. Melanie’s daughter, Sarah Kate, was in her car seat accompanied by her pre-school class’s mascot, a stuffed animal named Freddie the Frog. Freddie leads a vagabond life, going home nightly with a different student and doing whatever that student’s family does.

I suggested Freddie’s name should be changed to Pinkeye the Frog because you know this thing is crawling with germs from every pre-schooler’s unwashed hands that’s ever touched him. Although Melanie laughed, she did report Sarah Kate came down with a cold immediately following Freddie’s sleepover.

It seems this practice isn’t limited to pre-school. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned more than once, our son, Keith, works for the Kansas City Royals. Now that the baseball season is over, their mascot, Sluggerrr, stays with a different employee every night. Keith says sleep is in short supply when Sluggerrr is at his place. Sluggerrr is constantly yelling, “Let’s go, Royals, let’s go” or playing “dat da da da dat da da da” on his trumpet and yelling, “Charge!” Last week he was on Keith’s balcony shooting hot dogs from an air powered bazooka at people heading out for their morning commute.

Following the eviction hearing, Keith is living with us until he finds a new apartment.

Always remember the words of Gilda Radner who said, “Laughter matters.”

---

Known as the “World’s Cleanest” comedian and speaker, Kent Rader helps people learn and experience how laughter matters in reducing stress. Kent is the winner of the Branson Comedy Festival and co-stars in The Baby Boomer Comedy Show, Clean Comedy For People Born Before Seat Belts.