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
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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