Hoover Hogs

It's been many years since the term "Hoover Hog," has crossed my mind. Many would not have a clue what I'm speaking about, "Hoover Hog, what the heck is that??" Well, I will tell you about the Hoover Hog, but just let me preface by saying that hearing the President speak last night, listening to all the prognostications of financial gloom, as well as checking my 401K all brought up the old Hoover Hog image.

In 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower was running for president as the Republican candidate and Adlai Stevenson was running for the Democrats. At the ripe old age of 7 I was introduced to political scare tactics. One day on the school bus one of the kids asked me, "who are you for, for president?" I had no clue but I did know the names of the guys running so I said, "Eisenhower." My response was met with immediate howls and squeals of my classmates. "Don't you know if he's elected we'll be eating Hoover Hogs?" they chided. I didn't dare ask what a Hoover Hog was because I didn't want to sound stupid, but I did ask them who told them that. They said that's what their parents were saying.

I couldn't wait to get home and run to my Dad and ask him what in the world was a Hoover Hog. The first words out of my breathless little mouth as I rushed into the house was, "Daddy, what is a Hoover Hog?" With a big smile and a robust laugh he responded, "Son that's an armadillo." I immediately burst into tears and through sobs cried, "But I don't want to eat armadillo!" "Who said you were going to eat armadillo," he asked, and appeared still not taking my dilemma too seriously. My continued sobs did get his attention though when I told him my schoolmates said if Eisenhower was elected that's what we would be eating. He called me to his side and explained that back in 1929 when he was a boy just older than me there had been a great depression, nobody had any money, and people had to get by the best they could. He told me a man named Herbert Hoover was president and everybody blamed the depression on him and called armadillos Hoover Hogs because they said that was all they had to eat. He then gave me a big hug, told me that things would never be that bad and that he would make sure I didn't ever have to eat a Hoover Hog. There was something about the hug and reassurance that dried my tears, and I was off outside to play.

Today I tell you after more than 56 years since I was introduced to the term, I've never had to eat a Hoover Hog!! Yep, plenty of peanut butter sandwiches, but never a HH! It's not that there have not been trying times in life, but always my family and I have been sustained!

One might think that with the financial/political prognostications as they are we might be eating Hoover Hogs, the new name is "Roadkill," soon. Well, I dunno about that but I take comfort in the old King David who reminisced, "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." I'm not exactly sure what David meant when he said, "the righteous," but I do know that entails having a healthy fear of God, faith, and always trying to do the right thing.

Therefore, I won't do much worrying today, or tomorrow, or any day over eating Hoover Hogs! But Pshaw, who knows they might not taste so bad in some Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce!!!!