I took a week off from the postings, but that doesn't mean I took a week off from saying or doing stupid things. Even so, I think I'm going to bestow this great honour on my uncle, who was telling me the other day about being a teenager, and having a big brother who, by virtue of being twice his size, often smacked him around or let his friends pick on him. "Would've been nice to have a big brother who acted like a big brother," my uncle said, angry at pretty much every one of his brothers right now.
I was reminded of that awesome, iconic moment in ON THE WATERFRONT, where Marlon Brando says, "You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me." I asked my unclde if he felt that way, and quoted the famous part to him: "I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody. Instead of just a bum. Which is what I am."
Jeez, it was such a profound moment in that film, and so profoundly describes my life, that I almost got emotional quoting it to him.
And then my uncle said, "No, not at all. I AM somebody. I AM a contender. And I didn't need anybody to do it."
The warm feeling in my corrupted bosom faded away, and was replaced by the kind of disgust I feel when I go into a toilet stall and find it unflushed, or see a lawyer destroy a timid, unschooled witness on the stand.
So, there's that. You can give the Stupid Thing to my uncle the lawyer this week, or to me, as usual.
Rish "Waterfront" Outfield
1 comment:
He's right though. Everyone in that family turned out a lot better than they had any right doing so, considering the circumstances.
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