Going "Bo Bo"

The Urban Dictionary Definition of Bo Bo

Growing up in South Philadelphia in the early 80's, this term would have been used in the ghetto for any old raggedy ass, nasty, beat up shit kicker that all of the school kids would have accused your mother of buying at the Salvation Army, but usually of the Chuckie's variety. YOU KNOW short top with rubber tip. They were often found hanging, like Christmas ornaments from every telephone line...

In my area of the country, we call anything that's fake, generic, unbranded, or store brand, "Bo Bo."  It probably does stem from the reference mentioned above as my first exposure to the term as a kid was in the context of my Mom's shoes.  See she's always been quite fond of wearing dirt cheap white Bo Bo sneakers that you buy at the supermarket or Clover (another Philly reference - think ghetto Target) rather than the real Keds or Converse that they resemble.  They're like walking with cardboard and paper bags on your feet.

Clover - R.I.P.

Generic stuff might have a different definition in your locale, but I think you all know what I'm talking about.

To this day, I absolutely draw the line at buying three Bo Bo things (other than sneakers).  They are as follows:

• Ketchup - Don't bother bringing store brand ketchup near my burger & fries.  In fact don't bring anything unless it's Heinz.  Yes, Hunt's is even considered Bo Bo in my book.
• Toothpaste - You only get one set of teeth.  Take care of them.  Spend the extra cash.  Seriously.
• Q-Tips - Keep those el cheap-o cotton swabs away from my ears.  The cotton disintegrates and the little stick in the middle is like a limp wet noodle.  How am I supposed to extract all of the waxy goodness with an inferior tool like that?

Don't even...

However, being Bo Bo is not always necessarily bad.  Here's an example of three Bo Bo things that I do use.

• Yellow Mustard - The yang to Heinz ketchup's ying, store brand yellow mustard is perfectly acceptable in my book.
• Shampoo - Does it make a lather when wet?  Does it get your hair relatively clean?  Yes to both.  No, I don't care if it costs $1...and neither should you, unless you're a chick.
• Diet Soda - All diet soda tastes like crap, so what's the difference?

A Bounty of Bo Bo

In taking an inventory of my fishing equipment the other night, I noticed a relative lack of Bo Bo gear and wondered if I'm missing out on something good.  The handful of Bo Bo items included the following:

• A fly assortment from WalMart.  I got my first fly rod a few years back but had no flies...they cost something like 100 flies for $9.99.  These flies are cheap and work great on indiscriminant panfish.
• A non-branded 3-weight fly reel I bought off eBay for $10.  It's set up for the wrong hand and has no drag whatsoever, but damn if it isn't pretty.
• Bass Pro branded split shot.  Why pay more for a chunk of lead (or in this case tin)?
• White River tippet.  Sure, I prefer Frog Hair tippet, but I can get 2 spools of White River for the price of one of Frog Hair...and the trees and logs seem to like it just as much.
• A spool of 4-lb test Bass Pro "Tourney Tough" monofilament line.  This line really sucks...who knows, maybe I just got a bad batch.  It should carry the tagline, "A bird's nest on every cast - guaranteed!"

Now here's where I'm going to toss out a request for some reader participation in the comments section.  What I want to know is am I missing out on some great Bo Bo fishing (or hunting) gear?  Are there off-price or store brand items that you use that really perform or that you even *gasp* prefer?  

If not...go ahead and humor me with some examples of Bo Bo products you use in your non-fishing lives. The more obscure the better.  But don't dare mention Hunt's ketchup.  That's blasphemy.