The world needs more characters like Al

I have a friend, who I've always known as Al.

I see him at the footy sometimes and we always get to talking about the good old days.

We are both old but neither of us good.

For many years, he’s chosen to be hirsute of face and the nearest I can describe his appearance is akin to the cartoon character Yosemite Sam.

Good ole Yosemite Sam was born in late 1944 and became part of the great family of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.

He’s a little bit older than Al but his beard and moustache never seems to show any sign of turning grey.

For those of you not in the know, Yosemite Sam was one of two great adversaries of Bugs Bunny and would do anything he could to shoot the pesky rabbit.

The other great adversary was Elmer Fudd. But Al is no dim-witted Fudd.

Fudd was mild mannered and totally incapable of trapping Bugs.

Al, on the other hand, is a man of far greater capacity.

Al, however, doesn’t carry guns or chase varmints, unless of course they are from the opposition.

At a recent game, he told me that he enjoyed reading this column.

I questioned his sanity, but then he informed me that it was the first thing he turned to when he bought The Geraldton Guardian.

In an era when most of us are desperately trying to conform to some version of normality, Al has brilliantly gone his own way.

I wouldn’t say he is an eccentric but he is in many respects a non-conformist.

Like Yosemite Sam, Al is a larger-than-life character.

We need more people like him to brighten up our days.

He is also one of those people who you’d like to have in your corner if things got tough, a bit like Yosemite Sam.

He did tell me once where he was from but I’ve forgotten.

Forgive me Al, let me know next time we catch up. In the meantime, as Yosemite Sam would say “All right, all right don’t rush me, I’m-a-thinkin’ ... and my head hurts”.