Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Guy Next Door

Well, Old Blue has turned all of 54 within the last couple of weeks and his thoughts have begun to turn ever more inward, looking to cement his legacy in the world.

Who am I kidding? My chances of having a long-term legacy in this mess are about the same as Dick Cheney's of being remembered as a kindly, beloved leader. Lots of people think I share DNA with Scrooge; I'm the bad guy who messed up their life, caused them to have trouble getting jobs, embarrassed them publicly and the like (despite the fact that it was THEIR actions that got them there; I just helped make it official).

I remember some of our neighbors, folks whose legacy in this world isn't much more than a tombstone in my hometown, but they had an impact on me as a child. I "ran away" one time when probably about 5 years old, putting some stuff in a hobo-like bandanna on a stick and going next door to live with the neighbors who always let me have a Dr. Pepper when I visited. They were nice folks (despite ratting me out to my parents), but I suspect no one in my hometown or the neighborhood would know who they were nowadays. That's too bad.

Me? I'll keep grinding away at my job for another slightly less than seven years, retire, and maybe, just maybe, write a book. Or, maybe I'll just start giving Dr. Peppers away to neighborhood kids.