Whenever you see a spiky black hairdo or red and black jumper, you think of Dennis (the menace). Whenever you see a little pink hat and buck teeth, you think of Timmy Turner. Whenever you see a sponge in clothing, you think of Spongebob. And whenever you see a guy in a red and white jumper, paired with round spectacles, a little bobble hat and a goofy smug smile, you think of Wally (or Santa Claus gone wrong). That’s “Waldo” for the Americans out there. 

Wally, besides being a hilarious name – and now tame insult (“Gosh you’re such a wally”), is a very hard man to find. He spends his days and nights and days and nights…hiding. We’ve all been there with a book of many people, searching the four corners of the page for this mysterious man. And when you find him, there is satisfaction like you’ve never felt satisfaction before. Heaps and heaps of it…until you turn the page and the frustrating search begins all over again. I have to admit that in my childhood days, Wally and I were not the best of friends. I rarely saw him and we didn’t spend much time together. He also always gave me headaches, and I blame him for my short-sightedness. And probably that of every child who’s spent hours with their faces one centimetre from a piece of paper. Or computer screen. The temptation’s there, I know; don’t do it.

Anyway, you’re probably wondering where this is all coming from. Some of you have been asking where I get ideas from for posts, and the answer is this: everywhere. Take this one for example; as you may have gathered, I’ve been on holiday recently. One fine day, I spotted a t-shirt in a small shop which made me laugh out loud quite loudly. But after an indecisive hopping dance between the till and the clothing rack I decided against it, and instantly regretted it. Several days later, I went back to visit the shop and after a Where’s Wally-esque search (1 white t-shirt in a pile of hundreds), left disappointed. There had only been one on display/in stock the first time, and this time it just wasn’t anywhere to be seen. 

Finally, on the last day of my holiday, I just happened to be passing the area and on a hunch, decided to look one last time. But the special t-shirt display had been replaced by new stock, and there wasn’t really much hope of finding Wally. In true epic movie style, however, I checked through a nearby other display of “Eddie Van Halen” tees (I didn’t know he did clothing either) and in slow-motion, on the last rack, at the very back… was The One; not Neo, not Jose Mourinho, not my someday-soulmate. I found Wally. 

And, you ask, “what is all this fuss over a t-shirt?”. Why am I so suddenly fixated with Wally? Well… here it is:

Bev x

Ps. So folks, the moral of the story is that if you’re looking for something or searching for something, keep looking and searching. After all, Wally can’t hide forever!

Pps. The t-shirt is funny because, in the time you've been searching for Wally, he's sporting a beard and 'tache. Note: Internet research seems to tell me the design is related to Bin Laden, which is not why I'm wearing it. I am wearing a Wally tee, not a Bin Laden one, so no association there!