by Tim Tucker

You know how someone says something and it sticks in your head for the rest of your life? My Dad had a lot of phrases that he'd use over and over that ring in my ears to this day – in a nice sort of way. Here's one I heard many times during my childhood, "A word to the wise." I never quite understood what he meant by that, because why would anyone need to say something profound to a wise person? Aren't they wise already? And, obviously, if he was giving me advise at that moment, it wasn't because I had been making "wise" choices prior to our little "talk."

So now that I'm older and a little wiser (thanks to my dad), I'm going to give a little twist to his phrase and give a word of advice of my own. A word to the "unwise" which is: "DON'T!" Now, that may seem rather cryptic, just one word, so I'll explain. It means, don't make the mistake of helping yourself to our hard work. We have all spent enormous amounts of time, money, and expertise to bring this buckle to life. Please allow us to enjoy "the fruits of our labor" (he'd say that a lot too!). Soon, this buckle design will be patented, at which point we will exercise every privilege it affords us. Thank you for your understanding. You can go run and play now! : )