"Mark, you don't know what you're talking about. You just talk to hear yourself talk and feel like someone's listening."
For some reason, my uncle Terry to this day loves to torment my dad. It works. He can get him going like nobody else I know can. The big difference between my dad and Terry is that my dad knows what he's talking about, and he's usually right about it. I suppose that makes it mildly ironic because my uncle likes to talk, to hear himself talk, and thinks everybody in the room is hanging on his every word. Ocassionally, people smile and nod. After all is said and done, though, nobody really even remembers that he said anything. I'm pretty sure that's karma at it's finest.
Occasionally people at the lovely family gatherings remember that we all have a jugular and they become very interested in exactly how to tear through it, creating the most carnage possible. This never happened before my grandpa died. It usually starts with my uncle, going after my dad. It starts with small, quiet jabs, and as the wine dissappears, it turns to crude "your mom" jokes and loud insults. Of course, my dad always has a multitude of things to say in return, most of them true. Once again, a large difference between the two is that my dad can keep his cool and sometimes nobody but Terry, and sometimes everybody but Terry, realizes that he has just been gravely insulted. This usually evolves into my grandma trying to change the subject, and I guess she means well, but it always ends up creating some kind of problem, because my dad loves to make wisecracks, which are sometimes not exactly welcome. My brother and I try to be graceful as we laugh when grandma get frustrated with my dad.
Terry and my favourite aunt got married when I was about three. He's never been my favourite person. He's always talked to me like I was three. This has always offended me, as everybody else, even when I was three, has talked to me like an adult. I'm not quite sure when he got it out for my dad, but I imagine it probably happened about the time when my dad bared his teeth as he tried to steal the heart of his beautiful younger sister. If my dad thought him unworthy, he was right.
Humans are a cruel and vengeful species. I've often wondered where rumors like "If you swallow gum, it stays in your stomach for seven years" come from. I've decided it was most likely the work of a mean kid trying to scare the crap out of another kid. I also wonder how the second kid thought they test that theroy when he believed it and told all his best friends. It has been my expierence that throwing salt over your shoulder does not solve bad luck, but makes your luck worse, especially if somebody is behind you. Thing is, you make your own luck in life. If you just take what comes at you and make the best of it, you'll be a better person in the end. Many people don't care what kind of person they are in the end, they don't see who will care. For me it's a matter of approval.
For some reason that I have yet to fathom, people have an almost unfulfillable need for the approval of others. If everybody loves you, you might not really notice it, but if you've ever felt alone, you know what I mean. It's one of those things that if you have to ask, you couldn't understand, and if you understand, you don't have to ask. I'd explain it to the world, but I dont understand that part of myself. I just know that a lot of times people are mean enough to know you want their approval and hold their standards just above what they know you can do. They won't know how badly this can hurt a person until it's too late.
"Payback is a bitch, revenge is sweet."
For some reason, my uncle Terry to this day loves to torment my dad. It works. He can get him going like nobody else I know can. The big difference between my dad and Terry is that my dad knows what he's talking about, and he's usually right about it. I suppose that makes it mildly ironic because my uncle likes to talk, to hear himself talk, and thinks everybody in the room is hanging on his every word. Ocassionally, people smile and nod. After all is said and done, though, nobody really even remembers that he said anything. I'm pretty sure that's karma at it's finest.
Occasionally people at the lovely family gatherings remember that we all have a jugular and they become very interested in exactly how to tear through it, creating the most carnage possible. This never happened before my grandpa died. It usually starts with my uncle, going after my dad. It starts with small, quiet jabs, and as the wine dissappears, it turns to crude "your mom" jokes and loud insults. Of course, my dad always has a multitude of things to say in return, most of them true. Once again, a large difference between the two is that my dad can keep his cool and sometimes nobody but Terry, and sometimes everybody but Terry, realizes that he has just been gravely insulted. This usually evolves into my grandma trying to change the subject, and I guess she means well, but it always ends up creating some kind of problem, because my dad loves to make wisecracks, which are sometimes not exactly welcome. My brother and I try to be graceful as we laugh when grandma get frustrated with my dad.
Terry and my favourite aunt got married when I was about three. He's never been my favourite person. He's always talked to me like I was three. This has always offended me, as everybody else, even when I was three, has talked to me like an adult. I'm not quite sure when he got it out for my dad, but I imagine it probably happened about the time when my dad bared his teeth as he tried to steal the heart of his beautiful younger sister. If my dad thought him unworthy, he was right.
Humans are a cruel and vengeful species. I've often wondered where rumors like "If you swallow gum, it stays in your stomach for seven years" come from. I've decided it was most likely the work of a mean kid trying to scare the crap out of another kid. I also wonder how the second kid thought they test that theroy when he believed it and told all his best friends. It has been my expierence that throwing salt over your shoulder does not solve bad luck, but makes your luck worse, especially if somebody is behind you. Thing is, you make your own luck in life. If you just take what comes at you and make the best of it, you'll be a better person in the end. Many people don't care what kind of person they are in the end, they don't see who will care. For me it's a matter of approval.
For some reason that I have yet to fathom, people have an almost unfulfillable need for the approval of others. If everybody loves you, you might not really notice it, but if you've ever felt alone, you know what I mean. It's one of those things that if you have to ask, you couldn't understand, and if you understand, you don't have to ask. I'd explain it to the world, but I dont understand that part of myself. I just know that a lot of times people are mean enough to know you want their approval and hold their standards just above what they know you can do. They won't know how badly this can hurt a person until it's too late.
"Payback is a bitch, revenge is sweet."
posted by Teddy at 1:01 PM
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