50.0°,
Light Rain My Mr. Feeny
"Boy Meets World” was a great show.
Seriously, I looked forward to it every week. ABC’s T.G.I.F. lineup on Friday nights was awesome.
“Boy Meets World” was my favorite of those Friday night shows. One character in particular was special to me — and to most people in my age group — and that was Mr. Feeny.
Cory Matthews (the main character, for those of you not familiar with the show) was an adolescent trying to find his way and find himself as he grew up, and he was fortunate enough to have Mr. Feeny, not only as his teacher and/or principal every year from middle school through the end of high school (you’ve got to love the magic of television, right?), but also as his next-door neighbor.
Over the years, Cory, his best friend, his girlfriend, and his older brother would all get into jams of a variety of sorts. They’d get into trouble or learn something about themselves (yes, the classic television sitcom plotline). And, inevitably — virtually every time — they would all find themselves going to Mr. Feeny for advice on how to resolve their newest issue. In the classroom, at the fence separating the Matthews property fromt the Feeny’s, or wherever he saw something going on, Mr. Feeny was always there for them, ready to intervene.
Nice guy, huh?
In my column last week, I mentioned something that I was told one day by a mentor, over lunch. That mentor is Roger Humes and he’s my real-life Feeny.
I was not yet a freshman at Hewlett High School when Roger and I first met. He was the faculty advisor for the weekly television show I executive produced and hosted during my high school years. We were introduced during the summer before my freshman year when an upperclassman I knew brought us together. Looking back on it now, I remember my first thoughts after meeting Roger being along the lines of “Hmmm, he’s kind of a tough guy.”
As it turns out, that first instinct of mine was right and wrong. Roger definitely was tough on me at times throughout high school, and for that matter, at times since, too. But he’s always done it because he cares, wants the best for me, and wants to make sure I’m on the right path.
