Bitter, Old and Mean

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Caught the Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino, last night. The man does his job well. I've actually enjoyed his later movies more than I ever liked the Dirty Harry stuff.

Yet, there were moments when, through the laughter, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and it's because Eastwood's character had lived his life, only to wind up alone, a bitter man, aggravated about everything.

I'm only 44 and I'm almost there. Everyone in the theatre was laughing too and I imagine its because we've all had such thoughts, and we see ourselves in the character.

Yet I've known for some time that being right all the time has its downside. My wife hung a button on the file cabinet on my desk - I can see it from every vantage point - that says - "Those who think they know everything annoy those of us who do."

I'm sure that I've annoyed others - particularly now that we are snowed in the house for what might be the rest of time - and knowing that things need to be done my way -is particularly annoying for those who don't perform according to my schedule.

Which of course, is the crux of the movie, the focal point of the character, and the reason why I'll most likely be barricaded in my own thoughts come twenty five years or so.

Of course, I can't spoil the movie, right? Yet there is a true peace in understanding that you aren't always right and that there is another point-of-view that sometimes deserves to be considered.

I sure as hell don't feel like thinking about that today - maybe tomorrow.

Likely not.

Why can't everyone just see it through my eyes?

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