I received a letter from England today. It was from an old school chum. We used to go to football matches on Saturdays. Shoulder to shoulder we stood, like brothers, on the cracked cement terraces under the dim English sun.
When I finished the letter I got a feeling I liked. I felt connected. Connected to my old school; connected to England; connected to the world; connected to you, motherfuckers.
I would like to write some more about the value of being connected, not only to close family and friends, but also to one's fellows, but I am afraid you might think I have gone all sissy on you. So instead of writing about the value of connectedness I am going to pop the top off another beer and phone my mom instead.
She will say something like, "Just a minute Beer, let me get my glass of wine and we'll talk." Mom has got friends from back in the days before the music died. She knows the value of old connections better than just about anyone.
"Young people today they aren't connected to shit. That's why they go around killing and raping one another like there is a war going on. People they used to have to rely on one another. Now it is just different. That's all."
3 comments:
I have a fairly new friend. I've known him for seven or eight years. He introduced me to his oldest friend. They've known each other since they were little kids. I liked his friend so we went and hung out together yesterday. We had a good time. Afterwards he went home so I went and hung out with my oldest friend. I've known him since we were little kids. His wife came along. I've known her since she was a teenager. My friend started out cheating on his girlfriend with her. The girlfriend got mad and broke up with him so he started seeing the other one full time. That was 35 years ago.
I had lunch last week with my girlfriend from 1984.It was sweet. She's a hell of a woman. Actually we met in '83 at my oldest friend's wedding. DOA was there. Shithead gave them a six pack of DOA beer as a wedding present.
I just got a long letter from a girl who lived down the block from me when were kids. She's really smart. I'm proud to know her.
I still hear from an old friend from the punk rock days. He's a professor in Shanghai. He makes the effort to stay in touch.
I know a lot of people like that. I do not understand or like people who don't have old friends. I've said it before. You are alright Beer.
I've got to add that working with the same people, some of them for 23 years was one of the best things that ever happened to me. We all knew the dirt on each other. We all knew we weren't perfect but we also knew who was a stand up guy, who had a good heart, who would go the fucking distance. We still tended to buddy up, white with white, black with black, etc. but the good ones never hesitated to walk right through those boundaries if you needed help;
Same for spending 18 years in a 12 step group. You can laugh at us but there are people who stuck with me when no one else gave a shit if I lived or died. They also taught me how to stick with someone who had nothing left but a little hope. Best thing that ever happened to me.
Finally, there's a lot to be said for making your life in a town and a neighborhood. When I get coffee I know the waitress. I know the guy who fixes my car. I know the people at the grocery store. They know me too. We shake each other's hands when we see each other on the street.
That rugged individualist horseshit is horseshit.
But the kids would say (and advertising says it for them)that they are more conected than ever before. I actually think they're right, but I also think the vast majority of their "connections" are trivial and boring.
Post a Comment