A couple of weeks ago I found time to sew two buttons onto a favorite shirt of mine. A big deal to me, as I am notoriously lacking in domestic skills. But it got me thinking....where did I come across buttons recently?

Then I recalled it was at work. A couple of co-workers were commenting on H.R. Pufnstuf. One made fun of the other because of her lack of Pufnstuff knowledge. Trying to be helpful, I did some research, and came up with the following:

“H.R. Pufnstuf began when young English boy Jimmy, out playing his flute Freddie, was beckoned out to sea in a colourful boat bound for Living Island. As it drifted toward the island, the boat turned out to be a trap set by the evil Witchiepoo, who wanted to add Freddie to her collection of magical belongings.

“Jimmy narrowly escaped his fate by jumping overboard, only to wash up on the beach of an enchanted isle, unconscious. The boy was promptly rescued by the local mayor, H.R. Pufnstuf, a giant orange and green cowboy/dragon. Jimmy and Freddie the Flute found themselves stranded on Living Island, where everything was alive with its own personality: books, candles, and mushrooms all talked, some houses had hay fever, and money was measured in buttons.

‘”Alarm, alarm, Witchiepoo is coming, Witchiepoo is coming!’

“Each week, the evil Witchiepoo, along with her henchmen--vulture Orson, hapless orange spider Seymour, and the aptly named Stupid Bat--would hatch a plan to steal Freddie from Jimmy and keep them both trapped on Living Island.

“Other memorable characters included Pufnstuf's deputies Cling and Clang, sister Shirley Pufnstuf, Lady Boyd, Judy Frog, and Ludicrous Lion (‘Buttons, buttons, who's got the buttons?’).”

Yeah, that’s why I was thinking about buttons. But what I really liked about this Pufnstuf precis was the idea of a character called 'Stupid Bat.'

And I got to thinking, a certain amount of stupidity can be a real asset. It’s like when you are inoculated, you are given a bit of the disease. A bit of stupidity in your system may taint your blood, but it also leaves you less psychologically vulnerable; you aren’t as plagued by the paralyzing reflection and over-consideration that often comes with intellect.

In short, you don’t think too much.

The problem is, simple-mindedness is a tough skill to learn.