Over the Hedge by T Lewis and Michael Fry for September 18, 2012

At my school I was the only one in the rodeo clown line, but that was because the flying monkey line was longer.

If life is like a rodeo, why do I always end up being the clown?

Aren’ t they the washed-up cowboys that got thrown too many times from the bulls?

Potrzeble: Mostly broken-field runners who didn’t make the NFL. As they say in Mexico, “No rich kid ever became a matador.” Look up “bull leaping” video. No Minoan sommersaults or layouts over the bull yet, but still amazing.

The rodeo clown ended up being that not for choice but lot. Life guided them to be that by pure luck.

No they are NOT washed up cowboys. Most cowboys couldn’t and wouldn’t do what they do. Ask a cowboy who their heros are and they will probably say “rodeo clowns” but now days they are called bull fighters.

mnd: Not quite. There are several types of rodeo clowns. Bull fighters are the ones who get the bull to chase them, using their tighter turning radius to avoid the bull. They wear football cleats for traction. Others yell and/or throw a football at the bull from a barrel, ducking into the barrel and getting tossed around. They wear high-top tennis shoes for grip inside the barrel. With all of them, the idea is to distract the bull so the dismounted (voluntarily or not) rider can make it to the fence safely. Night-Gaunt is right, entertainment is a by-product, not the major purpose. The only thing primarily entertaining about them is the clown make-up and costume; everything else is deadly serious.

Go with the Rodeo Clown line, kids. You’ll have a better chance of getting a steady job.