I was idling at the curb picking up a buddy and couldn’t help overhear two youngsters squabbling on the sidewalk. One of them had professed the desire to tattoo his forearm – and the other was rejecting the idea as “totally lame.”

While not an official statement on the death of “sleeves” and the “tramp stamp”, it was a reminder that each generation perceives the prior as archaic and retarded.

Ever sensitive to the economy and the “bubble-bust” phenomenon, it means all those tattoo artists will be looking for work in the next decade.

A piece on fishing news caught my eye, how hatcheries are searching for better ways to tag fish – how the “fin clip” is overly time consuming allowing only 25,000 fish to be tagged per technician per day.

… which was quickly followed by another piece on “Benson” the famed UK carp that was discovered dead – and how the entire populace was either in mourning or demanding an autopsy.

I figured Benson and Michael Jackson might have the same physician; what with the King of Pop scheduled for a series of London concerts and the Baron of Boilies finning nearby..

…  60 Minutes didn’t see it that way and promptly hung up.

Add all the esoteric together and I’m thinking we can clothe the out of work tattoo artists in lab coats, seat them in a long line at the hatchery and mark all the fish needed in half the time.

… and Benson wasn’t a celebrity until he was huge and recognizable. Most fly fishermen would admit that one rainbow trout looks much like another – and a bit of individualistic flair on markings would allow us to recognize fish as individuals, which would please snot out of the folks at PETA…

… briefly, until they caught us laughing at the big dummy with the “Mom” tattoo – and how he ate anything thrown at him.

Scar tissue and torn mandibles are so last year. We could carry felt markers to count coup on the fish we caught – and make a big story out of the “untouched-never-been-caught-sumbitch” whose cherry we popped with our Zug Bug.

It’s all upside; people are back to work, hatcheries are humming efficiently, and we’ve got fishing celebrities whose stories we’ll tell in hushed voices around campfires…

Tags: Benson, Zug Bug, celebrity fish, unemployed tattoo artists, fashion statement, Rainbow Trout, Michael Jackson, 60 Minutes, PETA, tramp stamp