Ben Snapper

Speaking of Real American Heroes, I thought I'd share another Grandpa story.

The last couple of times we've had visitors over who have brought their kids, Murray has pulled out his toy boxes. They're old-school lunch pails. One has the Muppets on it and the other has Star Wars. Murray has filled these with some of his childhood treasures like Star Wars figures and Pez dispensers. Anyway, they're great for entertaining little ones. Our nephew the Bean has come to expect being able to play with these toys when he comes over. And that reminds me of visiting my grandparents when I was young.

My grandparents had a drawer full of kids' toys, and we'd anticipate the opening of this drawer every time we went over to visit. Among the toys in this drawer, there is one standout, and that is Ben Snapper.

Ben Snapper was a little old action figure, and I don't think that he was from any particular show or story or anything. He was just an orange action figure. So Grandpa made up his own story about who Ben Snapper was. My older brothers loved to play with their Star Wars toys and their G.I. Joes, but Grandpa always would tell them that Ben Snapper could get the best of any of them. When my brothers would very emphatically explain to Grandpa why G.I. Joe or Luke Skywalker was the best, Grandpa would simply explain back, "Yes, but everyone, no matter who he is, has got to use the toilet. And that's when Ben Snapper gets 'em!"

I don't expect a television show to be made about Ben Snapper any time soon.

3 comments:

MTDA said...

Gulliver will know the legend of Ben Snapper.

Anonymous said...

I gotta say, I don't know you or your grandfather personally, but that story made me laugh.

AJM said...

I'll add a bit more detail, since I was the one most traumatized by the invincible Ben Snapper.

He was a race car driver action figure with a red one piece jumpsuit and a race car helmet with the visor up. He also had his hands positioned to grasp the steering wheel of the car he came with. One of the fingers was slightly pointed, and Grandpa always said that Ben Snapper had a laser in that finger. And he used that laser to get everyone when they went to the bathroom.