I Hate Me
A couple of weeks ago I was passing by a guy who had a torch in his hand. He was welding a huge tank of metal and his hood was down. I didn't want to bother him so I headed on by. He had a bag of sunflower seeds on his bench, and I grabbed a handful as I wandered away.
"Help yourself," he said.
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"Keeping a close eye on the seeds?" I asked.
"Trying to quit smoking," he said. "I've been smoking for 35 of my 49 years. I've had enough."
We had a nice long discussion about the evils of tobacco, how hard it is to quit, but more importantly why he had to.
"I have a couple of kids who are more aware. I don't want them to see me doing things that sabotage me."
I wished him luck. I sort of felt bad about taking the handful of seeds that had become his lifeline in quitting to smoke.
A few days later, I was back on the job. Before arriving I bought a bag of seeds at the convenience store.
My buddy was in his usual spot. I raised the seeds high as I walked to him.
"I'm smoking again," he said.
"Bah!!!" was the only appropriate answer. I tossed the seeds at him and he caught them. "For next time. What about showing your kids?" I asked.
"We all want to kill ourselves," he said. "Depends on how fast you want to do it."
And I thought of that again yesterday when I saw a guy in a Harley jacket driving on a motorcycle, on the Thruway in Pennsylvania. He stood out to me because he wasn't wearing a helmet. Evidently, down there, you don't have to, and why would you, of course?
You aren't going to tip it over. Nobody ever drops a cycle at 65 mph. Even if you did, you'd fall right and get away without even a scratch.
Right?
Ah hell, what can you do? It's a cold, hard ride.
"Help yourself," he said.
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"Keeping a close eye on the seeds?" I asked.
"Trying to quit smoking," he said. "I've been smoking for 35 of my 49 years. I've had enough."
We had a nice long discussion about the evils of tobacco, how hard it is to quit, but more importantly why he had to.
"I have a couple of kids who are more aware. I don't want them to see me doing things that sabotage me."
I wished him luck. I sort of felt bad about taking the handful of seeds that had become his lifeline in quitting to smoke.
A few days later, I was back on the job. Before arriving I bought a bag of seeds at the convenience store.
My buddy was in his usual spot. I raised the seeds high as I walked to him.
"I'm smoking again," he said.
"Bah!!!" was the only appropriate answer. I tossed the seeds at him and he caught them. "For next time. What about showing your kids?" I asked.
"We all want to kill ourselves," he said. "Depends on how fast you want to do it."
And I thought of that again yesterday when I saw a guy in a Harley jacket driving on a motorcycle, on the Thruway in Pennsylvania. He stood out to me because he wasn't wearing a helmet. Evidently, down there, you don't have to, and why would you, of course?
You aren't going to tip it over. Nobody ever drops a cycle at 65 mph. Even if you did, you'd fall right and get away without even a scratch.
Right?
Ah hell, what can you do? It's a cold, hard ride.
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