Funny Guy Friday... Free Ice Cream...

     The other night, I was home with the kids, while Cheryl went to a dinner with a church group. As she drove off, I went to retrieve the mail.
     As a kid, I used to love to get mail, but now it is just bills and advertisements. Nobody uses the US Postal Service anymore, so there is nothing that really gets me excited. I did not anticipate anything different on this day.
     As I flipped through the day's junk, I found a postcard addressed to our six-year-old son. I assumed it was an invitation to a birthday party, or a thank you for some gift that he had taken  to last week's birthday party. This was a good assumption because once you hit first grade, everybody is your best friend, and the whole class gets invited to everything.
     This postcard was from Friendly's restaurant. Cool... a Friendly's party... I will volunteer to take him to this party... I love ice cream.   
     As I read it a bit closer, I could see that it was a congratulatory card advising my son that he had won an art contest. My little man is an artist... always has been. He will tell you, "I am an artist, I am not a cleaner upper." This we have heard on more than one occasion.
     He is not great in baseball, but he will draw the heck out of a baseball player. Anyway, the last time we were at Friendly's, about four months ago, he colored a picture, and it was hung on the wall with a bunch of other clearly inferior pictures. His was chosen as the winner, so he will receive a free meal.
     Not that there are "winners" and "losers" in art, but I think you know what I am saying. My son blended colors perfectly, in such a way that the picture came to life, and he is what I have loosely referred to as a "winner." The other little pretenders were lucky to keep their colors inside the lines, and would be what I have loosely referred to as the "losers." It turns out that in the jungle-like art world, the winners eat, and the losers keep trying.
     As I think about this in the context of sports, I am a little concerned. If he eats the meal, will he lose his NCAA art eligibility. This could result in an awful scandal if he wins the NCAA National Art Championship and they find out he was once compensated for his work. I will have to check on this before we partake in the feast. Even if we don't partake, we all know my boy WON!
     Both Cheryl and I really do believe that he has a special talent. In fact, when his ten-year-old brother did a nice little art project of his own, I told him it was "really good, I mean it looks like something Noah would do." He did not understand... I was paying him a compliment by comparing him to his little brother.
     Now, I think we may have to consider sending Noah off to a special school like the one in Fame. We will miss him, but we feel we must share his talents with the world. This Friendly's "award" confirms what we have known all along, and we didn't even have to send in a drawing of a donkey on the back of a napkin to some matchbook company to prove his skills.
     The following day, I told my secretary about my boy's award-winning masterpiece, and told her of his special gifts. She advised me that her son had attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia and was also quite an artist. I am sure that he is okay... but nothing like my boy.
     The next day, she brought in a large professional-quality case with paper and art supplies that had been sitting in her closet since her son had bought it years ago. Isn't it always the case, the great ones get all the goodies, and the losers get squat. Poor losers. If they are lucky, they may get a chance to slobber at the window of my son's studio, and watch as he creates. 
     Well, today I came home and as I typically do, I again grabbed the mail and began to sort it into the "throw away now" and the "throw away later after it sits around for five days" piles. In the middle of this process, I came across another postcard from Friendly's. Another masterpiece, another winner. Noah is incredible.
     As I flipped it over, I was shocked to find it was addressed to my daughter. Wait a minute, her drawing stunk. What is going on here? Does every kid win? This can't be right. Don't tell me that this is just some advertising ploy to get me to come back to their restaurant!
     Well, this changes everything. I guess we don't have the next Picasso. He is just like every other kid. Ouch!
     Well it is not all bad news, we have one more kid left who also did a drawing, so it looks like one more free meal... and as you may know... I love ice cream.