Random Musings...

Just typing to see where this takes me

It has been quite the week…

It’s not a week when I watched a really good movie and was blown away and felt the need to type about it. I know, you come here for musings about movies. I don’t have much of that for this Tuesday evening. To be honest, I’m not really sure what I have but it’s going to be good. I just spent the afternoon musing on a few different things and feel the need to put pen to paper, or more properly fingers to keyboard, to express what is on my mind…

Two Class of Heroes

So, I ran into one of my old heroes this past week. His name is Nick and he has no idea that I’m writing about him. Let me tell you a little bit about Nick. He was my boss at my restaurant college job. Nick had previously served in the military before becoming one of the managers at my college restaurant job. Here is how Nick became my hero…

The restaurant opened at 10:00 am. The morning shift to prepare the restaurant for open started at 7:00 am. Nick consistently showed up at 6:00 am to make sure everything got done. The switch between day shift and night shift took place around 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm, I can’t remember exactly what time. I just know that Nick would stay late, no matter how late to make sure night shift was taken care of after day shift. The restaurant closed at 10:00 pm. The night shift could end anywhere between 11:00 pm and 1:00 am to make sure the closing was properly done. Nick had no qualms about staying late to make sure the restaurant was taken care of. He would even come in on his days off to help out. Again, Nick was a former service member. His excellence in work should not be shocking. What was shocking? His humility. The most down-to-earth and humble guy you could ever meet. I was in charge of a closing shift once. Nick called me in early in the morning to come into work because the restaurant wasn’t clean enough. Again, I was the manager in charge. Nick was asking to me clean up the mess that was left behind. In Nick’s mind, it was more my responsibility than the other people on the shift. Nick was a leader that you would follow into war and I humbly obliged. That’s how much I respected Nick.

Nick had tattoos. Nick wore a shooting sleeve to cover his tattoos. Yes, my buddy and I both wore shooting sleeves to emulate Nick. We had a little extra something those nights when we wore the sleeve. We both became managers under Nick’s leadership. We called him the Terminator. He set an example of excellence. My buddy and I were both guys in our twenties and we believed in the value of hard work and Nick was a guy that set that example. I feel like I may be fawning too much, but Nick was literally THAT DUDE. He fell in love with one of our coworkers. They got married and had kids. My buddy moved out of state and I had other career pursuits. We all lost touch outside of small connections of social media.

So, I ran into Nick in the oddest of situations this past week. I’ve been sicker than a dog. Upper respiratory virus thing. After a few days, I went to urgent care. Nick was my nurse or CNA. I’m not sure what his official capacity was, but I was in his care. I’ll add that he’s also a firefighter. Dude is literally a hero just out here saving lives. It was great to see him and catch up…now, I admit I’m not the best at receiving kind words. I have a habit to deflect, but I’ve written this much…My son was with me. I introduced my son to Nick. Nick says, “Your dad taught me everything I know about work ethic.” Wait, what? I was floored. I’m still floored. This guy embodied work ethic…he’s the guy that we called the Terminator…this guy that would volunteer for twelve hour shifts…this guy that I emulated by showing up to work with one sleeve…is telling my son that I taught him about work ethic? I was floored. I’m still floored. A few minutes later, Nick asked me if I needed a doctor’s note to miss work. I said no that I was just pushing through it. He smiled under his mask and said, “That sounds familiar.” Now, I feel like my ego is in the way of my writing, but I’m nothing special. Literally, I don’t want to toot my own horn. Nick was always the guy that was special. He’s the one that stood out. It’s just to hear someone you looked up to say those words about you…it makes you feel emotional. I almost bawled my eyes out in the urgent care in front of my son all because of the kind words from a former boss.

My interaction with Nick almost a week ago reminded me of this scene from Man of Steel…

”You just have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be, Clark, because whoever that man is, good character or bad, he’s going to change the world.”

Man of Steel is a Superman movie. It’s a phenomenal film and I will write about the entire movie someday, but not today. Just this scene. Superman’s greatest power is not his ability to fly or his super strength or the heat rays that he can shoot from his eyes. His greatest power is his humanity. Superman’s greatest ability is his willingness to empathize with human beings. His greatest strength is this shown in this moment, as a kid, when he is bullied and he wants to fight back and cause legitimate harm to these other kids, but he chooses not to. He chooses his humanity instead. His dad, Jonathan Kent, checks on him after he is attacked by these bullies. His adoptive father, knowing his son’s capabilities, reminds him of the importance of his humanity.

I’m not Superman. I may have looked at someone like Nick as Superman, but I think you guys can tell that he’s a very humble guy. He wouldn’t say he’s Superman (or Terminator). None of us are Superman, but all of us can be a Jonathan or Martha Kent. A person that shows their humanity with humility and kindness.

Now, I titled this section “Two Class of Heroes” so I should probably write about the other class…as much as I don’t want to. I had another hero in my twenties, not a restaurant manager but a pastor. A pastor that did not display a sense of humanity with humility and kindness. He was full of ego, arrogance, and manipulation. This individual thought he was Superman. Like I said, none of us are Superman. He tried to trick us into thinking he was. He was “called by God” and “anointed” or whatever catch phrases religious leaders try to use to trick people into blindly following them. As is always the case, he set himself upon a pedestal of morality and tried to tell others how to live while not following the lessons himself. No matter how charismatic he was, he still wasn’t Superman.

I left that urgent care reflecting. Not just blown away by Nick’s kind words, but also asking myself why I spent so much of my young adult life chasing the wrong hero. Sometimes you forget about the truly good people that impact your life because those people don’t impact you for their notoriety. They impact because they are just good people. Nick was and is a good man. I’m glad I turned out to be more like Jonathan Kent than faux-Superman.

Writing

I don’t think I’ve ever written a piece of just random thoughts. I can’t lie, that last passage about heroes felt really good to write. I almost clicked “publish” right there, but I figured I’d squeeze a little more out of this. My son and I currently hanging out a he’s watching tv. We’re planning a prank on his mom. We bought a whoopee cushion last night and we’re going to put it under my wife’s couch cushion. He’s very excited about this and he’s having fun testing it out before she wakes up. We’re a family of goofballs.

So, I talked to my dad on the phone last night. I just finished my final capstone paper for my second Master’s degree. It’s a Master’s in Political Science. No big deal. Anyways, my dad asked me how I became such a gifted writer and he asked how much my high school English teacher played a role in my writing. She was a great teacher. Probably the best I had in high school and she definitely prepared me for writing in college. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m not great at receiving compliments so I just deflected and I gave her all the credit. I also don’t think I’m that gifted of a writer, if I’m being completely honest. Octavia Butler was a gifted writer. Frank Herbert was a gifted writer. Stephen King is a gifted writer. Joe Posnanski and Hanif Abdurraqib and Shea Serrano are gifted writers. I’m just a dude with a Substack hobby and who was fortunate enough to be accepted into a cool Master’s program. But to answer his question better because it takes me a little time to formulate these answers (and he’s a subscriber). It’s who I read that inspire me to write (Also, drinking a couple of beers help calm the nerves before the writing process). I name dropped a few writers above and the picture below is a book by Hanif Abdurraqib that I’m currently reading. I one hundred percent recommend Abduraqqib’s book There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension to everybody. I’ve read forty five books this year. It’s in the top three and makes a great case for being at the top. Literature is seriously the greatest gift that humans give each other. I’m thankful for the writers that continue to write and give us all the inspiration to take on the obstacles or sand worms or killer clowns in our lives.

Whoopee Cushion Prank

I figured everyone would want an update on the whoopee cushion prank eventually and it happened between the time I started writing and the time I hit “publish”. It didn’t work as planned. I left to get dinner and my wife sat on it while I was gone and it didn’t make a loud enough flatulent noise. Back to the drawing board for my son’s and my shenanigans.

Nobody Wants This

I know this is probably a shocker, but I’m not much of a rom-com guy. I tend to consume and write about science fiction. That’s not to say I’m not a romantic. I’ve been a romantic throughout my life and often to my own detriment. I was the type of guy in high school that would listen to love song playlists for the crushes that he was too nervous to talk to. My wife, not as much of a romantic but she loves her rom-coms. She suggested that we watch this Netflix show called Nobody Wants This. It’s about a rabbi and a host of a sex/relationship podcast falling in love and navigating the complexities of their relationship. Let me tell you, everybody wants this. I’m not a big show guy, but this is thing is going to win some awards. This show makes you laugh, tugs at all of the right heart strings, and keeps you wanting more.

I won’t spoil much, but we get a season two and the song at the ending makes you fist pump like John Bender at the end of Breakfast Club.

Wrapping Up

I don’t know. I got home with some stuff to say and said most of it, but not all. Some things are better left unsaid. Expression is beautiful, but there’s something beautiful in remaining silent. I titled this “Random Musings” and just typed away. What better way to end a few random musings than a random ending?