April 1, 2020
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“He got in the last 01:30 and he…”
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I have a Wonderful Father – Son story today.
America is looking like a “Walking Dead” episode… a global pandemic and a horde of TDS / TSDS infected- zombies. You could use a Wonderful Father – Son story.
I have this friend. I’m talking actual “Friend”… someone I actually KNOW and have enjoyed shared experiences with over various spans of time. Not “Facebook Friends”…
I have 4,000+ cyber acquainti ranging from Croatian hookers to seemingly decent anonymous folks around the world with faux-profiles disguising the fact they are either serial killers or laboratory experiments gone terribly wrong. Of the 4,000+, I figure maybe 137 give/take have “no priors”. Bless their hearts … sigh.
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NOTE: I learned last week that one of my “new” Facebook Friends was once an “old” Facebook Friend before he “went Bruce Jenner” and well… you know. Yes, its 2020, but THAT will cause one to blink…
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This “for real friend” is a member of BobLee’s Special Nine. Nine individuals NOT from “my side of the aisle” politically… but possessing opinions far afield of that Octagon of Let’s Not Go There. Members of “The Nine” and I have wonderful extended in-person conversations of multiple hours duration. I had such a special pleasure with another of The Nine during my recent Smokey & BobLee Adventure.
Eight of The Nine never try to convert me and I extend them the same courtesy. The 9th one does… so he and I hardly ever get together; but I keep him on the list anyway rather than change the name to BobLee’s Special Eight.
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So this real friend has a son who is a reserve on a major college basketball team. Dad always – and always will – refers to him as “Little Guy” although “Little Guy” is 6’5″ / 205.
“Little Guy” hardly ever gets any PT … only “got in” 5 games this past season … but Dad is on-site for almost every one of them regardless.
As with most reserves on college basketball teams… “Little Guy” would dominate an intra-mural league or a YMCA pick-up game … but he chose to Peter Principle one notch above his skill set. He is a down-the-bench teammate. He (and Dad) accepts that reality. He simply enjoys playing for-real basketball.
Dad is at a point where he controls his own schedule and the frequent trips to games are not a financial burden. “Little Guy’s mother often accompanies him.
He and I were “long lunching” at an Eye-talian place famous for its lasagna . As friends do… the first questions are “How’s the family”?
He breaks out in a big grin … he just returned from a “see Little Guy play… maybe” trip up the Eastern Seaboard.
“He got in the last 01:30 and he got a steal … OK, he “almost” got a steal; but the ref called him for holding. But it was a clean steal …”
The look on Dad’s face could just as well have been – He was accepted at West Point, Annapolis AND Oxford; but has decided to go to Uganda for a year to dig wells and teach 12 y/o Ugandan boys how to shoot free throws….
Proud Dad could not possibly have been any prouder of his son.
I was thinking… There oughta be a Hallmark card for this!
I told Blondie this story. We both recalled when Kid was in a Jr High play. There’s that old saying – “There are no small parts. just small actors…”. Kid had “a small part”.
Act 2 – Scene 2 … Kid enters Stage Right … says her three lines and exits Stage Left. Blondie and I attended all three nights of the production to support Kid.
’cause that is what Moms and Dads do…
In BobLee’s version of Lake Woebegone.
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Later in our lunch, the subject turned to surgeons dealing with Life / Death situations and how they develop a mindset to handle that level of pressure on a daily basis. Being an Internet Legend has it’s moments but I’m not kidding myself.
I asked my friend – an attorney – if he had dealt with anything approaching that pressure.
HE: Do the six Death Row cases I’ve handled count?
ME: Well, yeah, those count. – YIKES!
Five hours after we sat down, we said our “so longs” in the parking lot… “until next time” we agreed.
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UPDATE: “No Good Deed ever ….”
It started out in a cemetery. A simple thoughtful idea. Send son-in-law Pastor Danny some of my friend Ed’s craft beer.
Then Kung Flu hits and Planet Earth goes TILT and ……
So I do the whole …east bound and down… loaded up and truckin – Bandit thing to Charlotte to get the beer to send to Danny in Mad Wiscy.
I take it to our local Mailing Center … in two boxes to distribute the weight. Mail Center guy looks up Danny’s address in our account archive… prints out two labels… etc. Hey Danny, Beer’ll be there Tuesday.
Tuesday Kid calls Blondie. “We only received one box. The other one was sent to Danny’s Dad in Indianapolis.” WHAT? The Mail Center guy had clicked the wrong address for the 2nd label. Aiiieeeee. I called Danny’s Dad in Indy and hopefully we got it all worked out.
My mind went back three weeks – and $230+ ago – I was standing in a cemetery in Kinston talking to Ed and saying “I think Danny might enjoy if I …”. Proving once again that:
No Good Deed EVER Goes Unpunished!
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Stay Safe My Friends… These be Troubling Times!
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BobLeeSays has been a continually functioning website since 1999 with over 2100 commentaries. BobLee ponders the HowComes of Life. He is not (1) “an Intellectual” … nor (2) “a Journalist”. … Reader Comments are aggressively encouraged.
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