A HOLLOW HORN HOTHEAD
I parked my rig at the hardware store, planning on buying ten pounds of zinc 16 penny nails. But the explosive activities of a car next to me diverted my attention. A hothead of a man about 35-years-old had quite a hassle trying to get one of his babies fastened into the infant seat in the back seat of a small red car.
After a closer look I noticed two baby carriers in the back, each loaded with a kid. A woman stood on the right side of the car reaching into to care for one little one. This out of control man leaned over on the left. He cussed and fumed and flailed around. With both babies crying, the missus attempted to bring order to the situation.
A Loud Thud
Just as I piled out, I heard a loud thud and a baby scream. My first thought was the hotheaded guy had hauled off and slugged one of the kids. That’s when I heard the woman shout, “Don’t you ever, ever hit me like that again!” This was followed by more curses from the red-faced man.
I tipped my hat at the obviously upset lady and asked if she needed any help. She shook her head and crawled into the front seat. The man glared at me without speaking, then quickly glanced over at the gun rack in my rig. He slung himself into the driver’s seat and ripped out into the street like a drag racer with a green light.
What To Do?
All I could do was just stand there and stare.
Witnessing a pure and undiluted jerk like that doesn’t happen to me every day. In the Old West, he’s the hothead type cowboys would have said “ought to be bored for the hollow horn.” It was a cowboy’s expression describing one who has a frightfully low supply of brains.
This phrase comes from the early days when a cow became ill and suspected to have a hollow horn. They drilled a small hole in the horn as a treatment for the malady. It became a phrase describing anyone who demonstrated obvious ignorance or foolishness or both.
Bible Wisdom
The Bible says a wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless (Proverbs 14:16).
It’s hard to know what to do about a man like the one parked at the hardware store. Too bad there’s no simple remedy like how to handle a cow’s hollow horn. He’ll have to pay the consequences of his actions both with his wife and his children. But the sad part is they will have to live with the results of his abusive anger as well, until he comes under the healing power of God’s Holy Spirit self-control.
Stephen Bly
Circa 1995
Sick Cow Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
Hotheaded Man with Horns Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay
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