The sad tale of Bob O'Hara

May 29, 2006
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So this guy decided to take a trip to Ireland to visit the town of Cork where his father came from and more specifically to meet his uncle, Bob O'hara, who had also offered to give him a place to stay while he was there. He was suppose to meet him at a local pub, but the place is quite busy and everyone pretty much looked alike to him. He went up to the bar to get some help

"Excuse me, I'm visiting town. I'm trying to find my uncle, Bob O'Hara. Do you know if he's here?"

"Well lad, I can tell you right now there are at least five Bob O'Haras in the bar right now. It's not exactly a rare name in this town as you might imagine, and it being a day between Monday and Saturday after 4, most of them are here. There's Bob O'Hara the Plumber, Bob O'Hara the Shop Owner, and I just so happen to be Bob O'Hara the Barkeep. Can ye narrow it down a wee bit?"

"Well, he's retired, but he used to be a mason and a sailor. Is there a Bob O'Hara the Sailor?"

"Oh THAT Bob O'Hara!," says the barkeep with a great big laugh. "I know who you mean, but we don't call him that. He's right in the corner over there, drinking by himself as usual. Have a fine stay in town!"

So the guy goes over to meet his long lost relative and has a seat. They get caught up on family gossip for a while and after they get acquainted and have a few beers, the guy asks, "So there's a Bob O'Hara the Plumber and a Bob O'Hara the Barkeep. Which Bob O'Hara are you?"

All the joy in his uncle's face drained away, and his shoulders slumped. "We'll let me tell you a thing or two. When I was a wee lad, my father (and your grandfather), Sean O'Hara, was the best mason you could find. I worked with him building everything from chimneys to churches and we did some great work. We even built the new school when the old one burnt down in '35"

"But why aren't you Bob O'Hara the Mason then?"

"I'm getting there lad, I'm getting there. Now when I got to be about 19, I got the desire to see the world. I got a job as a merchant marine and I went off to see far off places. I've been to Asia, Africa, South America and even the remote islands of the Pacific. If there's a town with a decent port, there's a good chance I've been there."

"Oh so your Bob O'Hara the Traveler then?"

"If only it were so lad, if only it were so. Now when the war broke out, they were in desperate need of Captains to pilot the ships full of supplies from America for the Allies. I heard the call and signed up as a freighter captain. It was dangerous work. The U-boats would attack the ships and they showed no mercy, the bastards. Sure enough, we were in a convoy in '42 when the boat behind us was struck-- to make things worse this was a ship full of young soldiers. Now that U-boat was still out there, and we were told to keep moving no matter what. But I just couldn't let those boys drown. I did the only thing I could turned the ship around and we picked up as many survivors we could find. We took on some 200 men, but the rest were lost."

"Wow so you are truly are great man! I'm so glad to know you now!"

"You'd think that, you'd think that, but look at me sitting all alone here. They could be calling me Bob O'Hara the Mason, or Bob O'Hara the Traveler, or if they wanted to be generous and have the tiniest kindness in their hearts, they could even call me Bob O'Hara the Great Man. You see lad, you can do many great things in life and you'd think you would earn just a little respect... So many great things... but you f*ck just ONE pig..."