Fun House
Introducing our own 'Papaya, the Sailor Man'

By John A. Sullivan, Honolulu

My son, Glenn, was an active, quick-thinking, always curious child. At 3 years old, he was learning new words daily. He would listen intently when his mother and I were talking, ears alert for words he hadn't heard before.

He wanted to know what they meant, and at each new word he would ask, "Whazzat?"

Glenn also enjoyed watching children's TV programs and he liked "Sesame Street," Yogi Bear and Popeye.

This was a time when we were introducing Glenn to new solid foods regularly. One morning, as Glenn was sitting in his high chair waiting for his breakfast, I decided to let him try some papaya, our standard island breakfast treat. So I placed bite-sized chunks of the fruit on his tray, telling him that this was a nice, sweet food that all good boys in Hawai'i eat every day.

Glenn studied it for a moment, pointed to the chunks of fruit and said, "Whazzat?"

I replied, "That's papaya."

He looked at me, somewhat surprised, and repeated, "Papaya?"

I replied, "Yes, papaya."

Glenn grinned and gleefully sang, "I'm Papaya the Sailor Man — Toot! Toot!!"

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