What's In A Name

"Sam? That's a funny name for a bear!" the little boy said looking up at the poster I was raising to advertise our circus. "He doesn't look too scary to me."

There was a growl from inside the big top.

"Let me tell you the story," I replied.

"Ronald, he's the Ring Master you'll see inside the tent," I started. "Last year, he called me into his office."

"I need to give you the big picture," Ronald said. "We need a new act. You'll be in charge."

It turned out that he meant a new bear act. The bear arrived the next day. He wore a collar, but with no name on it. He'd need a name to become a circus star.

Our first day working together, I tried out several on him.

"Yogi?" No reaction. "Ted?" No reaction. "Ballo? No reaction. "Shardik?" No reaction. I guess those well-known bears from cartoons, books and movies wouldn't work for a circus bear.

I fell asleep that night trying to dream up some more names.

In the morning, the snooze button got me a few more minutes of sleep, but no additional names; no closer to an answer.

We started to go through routines together in the ring that day. He turned out to be one smart bear, but the Ring Master was pressing me for a name so that we could make up this poster.

Musing out loud, "what should we call you?" I asked. I actually got an answer.

"Well, my name is Sam, but I don't know how good that would look on one of those circus posters."

"Sam only gets scary when someone doesn't like his name," I warned the boy, "so look out."

Another growl from the big top.

Sam helping to sell tickets.