Sunday 15 August 2021

POST FROM THE PAST: "BIFFO THE BEAR IS AN EASTER EGG WITH LEGS..."

Biffo the Bear - he's a good egg

One wintry, snow-clouded night in the late '70s (I think), myself and a friend were heading home after visiting a mutual acquaintance.  As we were passing a block of flats, a motion at one of the windows on the first floor caught our attention and we stopped to observe what was happening.  A parent, in the act of putting his child to bed for the night, was writing on the condensation on the inside of the glass pane as the infant bounced excitedly up and down in the background. (We could just see the top of the head, popping into view every few seconds.)

We stood transfixed, trying to decipher the reversed writing (accompanied by an oval-shaped figure) as, word by word, it took form before us - "Biffo... the... Bear... is... an... Easter... egg... with... legs!"  We fell about laughing at the silliness of the proposition, and, judging by the sound of muffled merriment emanating from within, the youngster was equally amused.  Then the snow and the wind caught us on the nape of our necks and propelled us, much cheered by our diversion, in the direction of home and the promise of our own warm beds awaiting us at journey's end. (I was reminded at the time of a similar scene in The WIND In The WILLOWS.)

If memory serves, at the time of this incident my friend was home on leave from the Navy, having joined not long before.  (Or, if memory fails to serve, he joined not long after.) We kept in touch via the occasional letter and it very soon became almost a custom for each of us to finish our episodic epistles with the slogan "Biffo the Bear is an Easter egg with legs!" I could neither read nor write the catchphrase without images of the night in question springing to mind, and having a hearty chuckle at the memory.  Naturally, I assumed that my friend viewed the occurrence through the same nostalgia-tinted spectacles as myself. It was one of those shared moments that neither of us were likely to forget.

Or so I thought.  Imagine my surprise then, when on a short visit back home with his new wife a year or two later, my friend enquired of me whence the slogan that we so freely bandied about between ourselves had originated. "Don't you remember?" I asked, somewhat puzzled by his lack of recollection.  He didn't, so I gave him a quick recap of the events of that snow-swept night only a Winter or two before. He still couldn't recall, and explained that he only used the phrase because did, and because he found it funny.

Odd, isn't it?  Sometimes, moments (or things) that folk regard as having, in some indefinable way, bonded them together - whether it be with friends, brothers, sisters, or lovers - and which they imagine to be fondly-recalled points in their mutual histories and experiences, turn out to be entirely one-sided affairs, having far more significance to one of them than the other.

It reminds me of times when I'd hear my father recount to my mother an obviously cherished moment from their past, followed by the expectant words "Don't you remember, dear?" - only to be met by a blank stare, a bewildered shake of the head, and a disheartening "No!"  I suddenly comprehend, with an insight and clarity that only time can bring, the disappointment etched on his face and no doubt in his heart.  (Such moments also happened in reverse, of course.)

I sometimes wonder how many friendships, relationships, or acquaintanceships survive only on the ghost of a memory of some past event that one of the parties involved has long-since forgotten - if, indeed, they ever remembered in the first place.  Kind of sad to consider, don't you think?

******

(Note to overseas readers: BIFFO The BEAR was - and occasionally still is - a character in the famous U.K. comic, The BEANO - published weekly by D.C. THOMSON since 1938 and still going strong-ish.)

6 comments:

McSCOTTY said...

I would think if your pal joined the Navy at this time that Biffo memory would have soon been replaced by others of travel, engagement in "incidents" training etc. I think your right many friendships remain based on some shared interest or event from the past. I have a group of 4 friend I went to clubs, bars and on holiday with in the early mid 80s, we had a great time great days etc but that's all we have in common now, the past . On the rare times we meet all we talk about is those holidays and experiences in pubs in the 1980s... I try not to meet them now as I can only relive the past so often ( and events are either exaggerated or forgotten by some as in your Biffo story). That's life Kid.

Kid said...

Yeah, it's a funny old world, eh, McS? All we ever have in common with most of our pals is the past, and even the experiences we have with new friends becomes the past soon enough. I find it a wee bit sad that you prefer not to meet your old pals now because all you talk about is what happened decades ago. Surely you like them for themselves as well (or do you?), not just because they represent your past? I think that would be an interesting topic for you to blog about.

McSCOTTY said...

Two of my 80s pals are still close pals through football ( I like football but support different team so we don't met up on match day) but we live in different towns now so don't see each other regularly. Of course I still like them as people but if you have nothing in common you lose that link otherwise I'd still be pals with my first mate when I was 5 years old etc. I m still close friends with other pals of over 30 years and I'm meeting 2cf my oldest mates on Thursday for our monthly guys night out etc. If I see the 80s lads we still chat and go for a pint,/ coffee etc but I'm no longer the barfly they are lol they still like a pint or 6 etc. We didn't fall out we just moved on and apart that's just life really.

Kid said...

I suppose most of us just make friends from people who are available to us throughout our lives (school, neighbours, work, etc.), but I've always had a sort of 'Enid Blyton' or 'Boy's Own' view of friendship, which is probably an illusion. That's probably why, when friends move away, they often fail to maintain contact; they've found someone else to connect with on a day-to-day basis, so their old pals are no longer required - or necessary.

McSCOTTY said...

It may not be they feel rhat old relationships are no longer " necessary " Kid ( some may think that ) but it's just life evolves if not we would never grow as people. It's good to keep in contact with old friends but it can be exhausting trying to maintain that relationship as ( in their cases) they got married and had children etc thereby having totally different priorities to me -for them their time is restricted looking after their kids and rightly their kids and partners are the priority etc. They probably found other friends that could share those priorities, stresses and experiences of having children and maintaining relationships etc. some folk if course maintain that link of friendship but I would guess most don't . As I think about it all of my mates are in relationships ( or single) but have no children ( in one case his boy is 40 Arghh having pals with adult kids makes you feel old) so we share that and we all have mostly distanced from our old pals that had children in their 20s and 30s.

Kid said...

Yeah, most of my pals are married with children (now there was a great TV show), whereas my life is pretty much as it always was. When you're single, you're surplus to requirements to couples (unless they're trying to match you up with one of their other single friends - not that it's happened to me), as couples tend to want other couples to fill that friendship space in their lives.

My problem of course is that I don't like change and wish everything could stay the same.



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