"Yabba Dabba Do!" Does that sound familiar? Yes, it's Fred Flintstone and once I became Fred myself. I used to work at All-Star Video, where we were having a celebration because another store was opening. We gave away balloons and popcorn.

I was helping a customer and all of a sudden my boss called me over. She had a strange look on her face that began to make me nervous. Curious, I walked over. The first words out of my mouth were, "No Way!" My boss responded, laughing, "Come on, please?" Then I clearly stated, "No, thanks, I'll leave that part up with you."

The next thing I knew, I was standing outside All-Star Video on Main Street in Franklin, dressed as Fred Flintstone. The head of the costume was enormous. It had a long, pointy nose and there were freckles everywhere. The body of the costume was orange and black. On me it looked like a dress because it was so long. There were no sleeves, so the heat was a little more bearable. There were also no shoes, so I had to wear my size six and a half black dress shoes. I looked somewhat out of proportion because I had a huge head, a medium-sized body, and these tiny little feet. To make matters worse, it was ninety-seven degrees out and the costume weighed ten pounds.

Unlike most of my friends, I am not outgoing and I embarrass easily. If this happened to them, they would probably have been dancing around, having the time of their lives, but me? No way! Since nobody knew it was me, I wasn't that embarrassed. I played along and waved at cars and shook the hands of many little kids. I actually got honked at many times. Meanwhile, everyone else who worked at All-Star Video was standing at the window laughing hysterically. I felt really cool. Finally, it was over.

When I got home, my mother asked how work had gone. I told her, "Fine, except I had to stand outside all day dressed like Fred Flintstone." She was in hysterics and, of course, she told everyone she talked to. So, now, whenever I see any of her friends, or relatives, they always say, "Hey Fred, what's going on?" and laugh. n