Aside from major weather stories such as this past weekend’s Ophelia, I can always tell when a news story reaches maximum exposure because it will get mentioned several times in Buzzy’s Country Store. I am not saying that my Buzzy folks are not into current affairs. Quite the contrary, most of my guys and gals are very tuned in to what’s going on both locally and nationally.

However, there is a little “what’s-that-got-to-do-with-me” vibe going down whereby for a news story to really command attention and/or merit a comment, it’s got to be a big one. This is not unique to my Buzzy folks as I think most folks everywhere go about their days and nights dealing primarily with what is in front of them. For any given issue to catch their time and attention, it has got to be a biggie.

For example, the recent story about the escaped prisoner up in Pennsylvania points out this dynamic in action. At first, in Buzzy’s no one said anything as the “Breaking News” about it flashed across the CNN crawl. Couple days in, it was “That guy is still on the loose?” A week later, the take became “Why can’t they find that dumb SOB?”

Ok, you’re three, going on 4 paragraphs in today, and I can hear you asking “Alright dude, how is this a Buzzyblog twofer?” Wellll, thank you for your patience and, as Paul Harvey used to say, here is “the rest of the story” .

Several weeks back two guys rolled into Buzzy’s to drink a couple beers while their wives chilled in one of Peggy’s rentals with the kids. The guys enjoyed their time in Buzzy’s so much, they bopped back in the next day.

Somewhere along the line, one of them asked me if I had any Buzzy hats for sale. He was unaware that this was a bit of a sore subject with me because I had just run completely out of hats right after the 4th of July, and was experiencing some supply issues getting another stash of them in the Store.

Not wanting to go into all that with my new found Buzzy fan and friend, I told him that I was expecting hats in any day now and promised him that I would send him one as soon as I got them in. He gave me his Pennsylvania address which I taped on the Buzzy chimney to save for when I received the hats.

Once I finally got the hats in, I sent one to the guy. He called me a few days later to thank me for the hat and ask what he owed me. I told him it was on me and not to worry about it since it was my bad for being NIS on hats. He laughed and thanked me again.

He then continued by asking me if I was following the story of the guy convicted of murder who broke outta jail and was on the run. After I responded affirmatively he said “They caught him in the woods right next door to where I live. The school where I teach has been closed waiting for him to be captured. It’s been kinda crazy around here.” (For related story click here.)

Now it was my turn to laugh and say “How is that for a small world story for you with a Buzzy twist? And all because of a hat!”

And speaking of running, here is another scene showing just why Forrest Gump is the best movie ever made. (Note how the music kicks in and helps make it such a great scene.)

And speaking of music, check out another “running” video:

This tune was also featured in Forrest Gump at the 2:50 mark in this video (click here.)