The Young Barnard P. Fife
Barney Fife is certainly one of a kind. He is portrayed as a nervous bumbling man who thinks he knows everything about anything. But we love him just the way he is. It is often said that the kind of adult one becomes often is determined by one's childhood. So I thought it would be interesting to bring to mind what we know about Barney's young years. Barney grew up in Mayberry and spent much of his time with his best friend and cousin, Andy Taylor. They were in the same grade in school. Barney and Andy enjoyed tormenting Mrs. VonRoder, the "Beast of the Fourth Floor". Barney would quite often sleep over at Andy's house on Saturday nights and they would laugh and giggle and get very little sleep;. Of course Barney would then catch up on his sleep the next day in Sunday school. According to Barney he was an avid reader as a child. Once he got his nose into a book he read it from cover to cover. He enjoyed reading Robin Hood as well as all the other childish classics. However, he had difficulty with spelling, but fortunately when he was working for the Raleigh Police Department he had an assistant who did that. His biggest problem in school was that his mind wandered - mostly to girls. Barney had his share of girl trouble even when he was a young boy. He really liked cute little stuck up Vicki Harms with her fancy dresses and long curly hair. Barney loved raspberry snow cones as a child, and whenever he had one he would offer a bite to Vicki. But she would take the cone, bite off the end, and sip out all the raspberry syrup. In high school Ramona Wiley signed his school yearbook with the words, "Barney beloved: The tears on my pillow bespeak the pain that is in my heart. Always, Ramona." Barney's father was rather sickly, but Barney was even sicklier. He often had nose bleeds and he was so thin that he could put his hand inside a milk bottle. Something he could not do as a man since he had filled out considerably. As a child he loved to run and play like all the other kids. He would play "Run, Sheep, Run" and "Early, Early, Urchin, Free" and even steal apples from Old Man McCabe's front yard. As adults Andy always protected Barney from harm. He helped Barney when the farmers were selling their produce within the city limits of Mayberry. When Fred Plummer threatened Barney until he was afraid to take off his uniform, Andy once again found a way to help Barney. When Sheldon was taking Opie's milk money away from him, Barney became very upset and felt so sorry for Opie. Perhaps it brought back memories of his childhood when the bullies of his day picked on him because he was so small and weak. A very special memory for Barney was when as a child his father would take out his pipe and then allow Barney to strike a match on his daddy's special rock and then light the pipe. To a child, lighting a pipe was a big and wonderful event. For Barney Fife, growing up in Mayberry was a wonderful experience. But like all of us he too had his share of problems and hardships. And like all of us he had one special friend who was always there for him- someone to laugh with and cry with through the good times and bad. Yes, Andy Taylor was certainly Barney Fife's best friend. And Barney Fife was indeed Andy Taylor's best friend. Where you found one, you would find the other. And that is how it should be during that wonderful time of life called childhood. Kenneth G. Anderson 2906 May Street Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54701 715-839-8470 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://mail.wbmutbb.com/mailman/listinfo/wbmutbb_wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
