The Barnyard Game

One of my life's most embarrassing moments.

When I was a kid, around 11 or 12, I was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Vidalia, Louisiana. This would have been around 1973 or 1974.

This was the same church that I wrote about my having played Dracula in the church's haunted house on Halloween one year.

Well, though I now wonder about some of the things we did there, I loved the church, and the adults there took an interest in us kids.

One time we were having a church supper with adults and kids there. My memory is kinda fuzzy on why we were there. I was in a boys group called "Galileans" and I can't remember what the girl's group was called. It may have been a supper to do with these groups, because I wasn't quite old enough for the youth group, and all of the kids there were younger, like me.

But anyway, you get the picture. Some adults, some kids, some hotdogs, ok? All together in the 'Fellowship Hall.'

After the gnashing of teeth, they wanted to play some games.

One of the adults asked, "Has anyone here ever played the Barnyard Game?"

Most of the people raised their hands, but a few of us didn't. I hadn't even heard of it, much less played it.

Adult: "Do y'all want to play the Barnyard Game?"
Most Everyone Else: "Yeah!"

So the adults get everyone to make a circle out of the chairs and we all sit back down facing into the circle, and wait for instruction.

The game goes like this. Someone goes around the circle and wispers the name of a barnyard animal into each person's ear.

Then, when everyone knows their animal, and they count down, 3, 2, 1, ...

Everybody is supposed to make the sound 'your' animal makes, AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS. "It's a blast and really loud when everybody makes their animal sound together," we were told.

The guy starts around the circle, and eventually comes to me, leans over, and wispers 'donkey' into my ear.

I nod my understanding.

I can do a donkey. 1. I'm from The South, and 2. I like to watch the TV show Hee Haw, so I'm reasonably sure what sound a donkey makes.

Then, when everyone has their animal name, the countdown is done.

3!, 2!, 1!,

HEE HAW! HEE HAW! HEE HAW! I scream with all of the gusto I can dredge up.

And, after about my third hee haw, I realized that everyone else in the room was just standing there silently, watching me do my donkey impression.

There was a moment of silence when I stopped, and then everyone (but me) started laughing and clapping and pointing at me.

Woo Hoo! That was Fuuuuuuuu-Nee!

They had really gotten one over on me there.

I was mortified, as Big Sis often says.

It seems that, out of the few who had never played the Barnyard Game, I was chosen to be the one to make a fool of himself.

But I finally started laughing too. I mean, it's either run out of the room crying, or learn to laugh at yourself.

As they used to say at the end of almost every episode of The Brady Bunch, I learned a valuable lesson that night.

And to this day, I can weather any joke made at my expense.

I might be terrible at some things, but I CAN take a joke!

Also, to this day, I'm really suspicious of Baptists ;)