Why me?
About 15 years ago, when I was still a rich airline pilot, I went down to Houston to visit my youngest brother, who is 10 years my junior. He worked in an office setting and one night we went out to a bar with some of his friends and workmates. It was a mixed group of men and women, very "Friends"sy; we'd all be sitting around drinking light cocktails and saying clever and sensitive things to one another. The girls were good looking.
One of the girls, Friedita I think her name was, started to tell a very sad story about a her parents. It seems they had lost Marty. They were taking it very hard because Marty was so close the the family and had brought such happiness to them and now he was gone. As the story progressed things seemed a little odd and I couldn't figure out who or what Marty was exactly so I asked.
Friedita said "Oh Marty was a sugar glider, kind of a miniature flying squirrel. He fell off the curtain rod into a lave lamp and died."
I sat there in silence for a moment and a picture formed in my mind of a mini flying squirrel with cartoon x's where its eyes used to be going round and round in the lave lamp in sort of a slow motion spin cycle.
And then I started to laugh...and laugh and laugh. I had to lean back against the wall to keep from falling down and was laughing so hard I almost couldn't breathe let alone talk. I looked around and saw nobody else was laughing and I started to laugh even harder. All I could think of was Marty slowly going round and round in the lava lamp with little x's for eyes. Kaashoosh...kashooosh...kashooosh...
My brother was sitting next to me, his mouth open with a look of slightly stunned mournfulness thinking to himself "Why me? Why did this have to happen to me? I was thinking that my friends would think my brother was cool and he would think they were interesting and the girls attractive. So what happens? He is rolling around on the floor laughing, pointing and holding his sides 'cause he can't talk and Friedita looks as if somebody just squished a puppy. Why do these things happen to me?"
After some minutes went by, I don't know how many, I started to calm a bit, but only for brief moments because the image of Marty going round and round in the lava lamp would pop back into my head and I would start up again. During one of those moments of lucidity my brother handed me the keys to his car and told me to drive back to his apartment. He would catch a ride with somebody.
I laughed all the way back. My brother remembers this incident vividly and rolls his eyes every time we talk about it. It still makes me laugh.
One of the girls, Friedita I think her name was, started to tell a very sad story about a her parents. It seems they had lost Marty. They were taking it very hard because Marty was so close the the family and had brought such happiness to them and now he was gone. As the story progressed things seemed a little odd and I couldn't figure out who or what Marty was exactly so I asked.
Friedita said "Oh Marty was a sugar glider, kind of a miniature flying squirrel. He fell off the curtain rod into a lave lamp and died."
I sat there in silence for a moment and a picture formed in my mind of a mini flying squirrel with cartoon x's where its eyes used to be going round and round in the lave lamp in sort of a slow motion spin cycle.
And then I started to laugh...and laugh and laugh. I had to lean back against the wall to keep from falling down and was laughing so hard I almost couldn't breathe let alone talk. I looked around and saw nobody else was laughing and I started to laugh even harder. All I could think of was Marty slowly going round and round in the lava lamp with little x's for eyes. Kaashoosh...kashooosh...kashooosh...
My brother was sitting next to me, his mouth open with a look of slightly stunned mournfulness thinking to himself "Why me? Why did this have to happen to me? I was thinking that my friends would think my brother was cool and he would think they were interesting and the girls attractive. So what happens? He is rolling around on the floor laughing, pointing and holding his sides 'cause he can't talk and Friedita looks as if somebody just squished a puppy. Why do these things happen to me?"
After some minutes went by, I don't know how many, I started to calm a bit, but only for brief moments because the image of Marty going round and round in the lava lamp would pop back into my head and I would start up again. During one of those moments of lucidity my brother handed me the keys to his car and told me to drive back to his apartment. He would catch a ride with somebody.
I laughed all the way back. My brother remembers this incident vividly and rolls his eyes every time we talk about it. It still makes me laugh.
posted by Carl at 9:27 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home