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It was like that the other night when the Mule Barn closed. We had
taken our wives down to split either a chicken-fried steak the size
of a saddle blanket, or a fish and chips large enough to feed a
cavalry regiment. We stepped out into the chill of the night and
looked up at the many stars. "Nice night for neutrinos," Bert
said. His wife, Maizie, groaned quietly and looked for something in
her purse.
"Neutrinos, Bert?" Doc said.
"You know what neutrinos are, of course, Doc," Bert said.
"I think that's the chess team in Fairweather, Doc," Steve threw
in.
"You're wrong, Steve," said Mrs. Doc. "Those are the Machismos."
"So the neutrinos... Aren't they dogs that have been fixed?"
Bert was ready to bust a gut. "Are you kidding? You don't know
what neutrinos are? You don't study astronomy?"
"Well, no, actually..."
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column] |
Bert smiled in the darkness. "A neutrino," he pronounced, "is a
subatomic particle. It doesn't have an electrical charge, and it
flies around at the speed of light going through things. The word
neutrino means 'small, neutral one.'"
"Just like Gilbert's Chihuahua. He charges around going through
things... and I'm pretty sure he's been neutraled," Steve commented.
"I don't know why I even bother bringing up these scientific
things," Bert said, in despair.
"Me neither," said Dud.
"You probably don't know about charmed quarks, either, I'll bet."
"Charmed, I'm sure," said Steve.
Doc made wing-flapping gestures. "Quark, quark... QUARK!"
Bert got in the car and drove off.
Sometimes drive-by knowledge can hurt innocent bystanders.
[Text from file received from Slim Randles]
Brought to you by Slim's new book and great
stocking stuffer "A Cowboy's Guide to Growing Up Right." Learn more
at
http://www.nmsantos.com/Slim/Slim.html.
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