Saturday, August 13, 2005

A middle-class parable (with an Ethan Hawke coda, no less)

It’s storytelling Saturday again…

Plenty of days—after a full afternoon of playing ball—my best friend Frank and I would stand in front of my building and rehash the half-court action we just perpetrated. Every day, this guy in his 40s would walk by: like clockwork…dressed like someone who did manual labor and had very little authority.



A few years passed and we’d try to play as much ball as we could...always ready to recap afterwards. This poor sap would still be walking by at the same exact time. He looked more and more tired: gained weight and lost hair, skin grew wrinkled, eyes receded into his skull. Eventually, he’d be moving his lips as he slouched by...talking to himself.

Frank looked at him one day and said: “Boy, that guy’s sure gone downhill, huh?”

Until that point, we had never mentioned him. I’d glance at him but didn’t realize Frank was also using this lost soul as a way of marking time and learning what life has to offer for us if we aren’t careful…perhaps even if we are.

Ethan Hawke says:

“Don’t you find it odd that when you’re a kid, everyone, all the world, encourages you to follow your dreams. But when you’re older, somehow they act offended if you even try.”

(from his novel, “The Hottest State")

Anyone else wanna tell us a story?

+++

For those about to (web)surf:

Sheehan strategy
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=1&ItemID=8496

More US children in poverty and poor health
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/kids-a13.shtml

Vaccine-autism protest
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_evelyn_p_050813_august_24_dc_protest.htm

Share
Posted on 08/13 at 07:34 AM
View and Add Comments • Permalink
Page 1 of 1 pages