January 26, 2012. BLOWING ROCK -- Several times a month, Blowing Rock News offers a funny story or quotation. Hopefully, they brighten your day! Some will be original jokes. Others adaptations of old jokes by our editorial staff.  Click READ MORE to see the latest. We've titled it, "Puttin' Brotherly Love in a Proper Perspective."

Brothers Clem and Slim both worked Teamsters Union jobs in a South Central Los Angeles warehouse.  Not only were they brothers, but great friends.  They did just about everything together, and were almost inseparable. Neither had been able to finish high school, but they kind of enjoyed the hard, physical work that was loading trucks, knowing they were supplying groceries to supermarkets all over Southern California.  The pay was good for not having much of an education, and the hours were regular.

On this day, they couldn’t wait for the afternoon clock to strike 4:00, because that is when they would get off work and head for the Sierra Nevada mountains in Central California for their annual fishing trip.

Finally, the horn sounded for quittin' tiime and they scrambled down from their respective loading docks and headed for the parking lot, where they found their already fully-loaded car.  The steaks were safely on ice, their fishing rods and reels were neatly packed beside the bait. The Budweiser was already cold.

And so off they went. Six hours later they arrived at their campsite, way up above the San Joaquin Valley floor on the slopes of California’s highest peak, Mt. Whitney.  The stars were twinkling brightly through the trees when they polished off those massive T-bone steaks that Clem grilled to perfection above the campfire.  They cleaned up, tossed their meat scraps in the campsite container, and climbed into their tent, anxious to get some “shut-eye” for what promised to be a glorious morning, fishing for rainbow -- and maybe even some golden trout.

About 2:00 am, they were startled awake by clanging garbage cans and heavy snarling noises, just outside the tent.  Being closest, Clem got to the flap of the tent and carefully peered outside.

“What is it?” Slim whispered.

“Why, it is a bear, out there in our trash,” Clem whispered back, somewhat fearfully, but still looking outside the tent in amazement. “In fact, it is the biggest, meanest, most ferocious looking grizzly bear I would ever want to see.”

As he finished this description, he turned and looked back inside the tent to see that Slim had set bolt upright.  Then he watched as his brother wordlessly leaned across the sleeping bag and fetched a pair of brand new Air Jordan running shoes out of a bag, and started strapping them on to his feet.

“What on earth are you doing?” Clem asked his brother, incredulously.

“Well can’t you see?  I am puttin’ on my Nikes,” Slim answered.

“I can see that,” Clem declared, sarcastically. “But why?”

“So I can run faster!” Slim explained, excitedly.

“You don’t think you are going to outrun that bear, do you?” Clem wondered, aloud, looking down at his own big hiking boots.

“Bro, you just don’t understand,” Slim started to explain. “We’ve got to put this here situation into its proper perspective. You see, I don’t have to outrun the bear.  I just have to outrun you!”

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