The Old Man and The Fool....

You know that saying that it's good to listen to a old man, cause he's lived his life and has life's experience.....Well something like that goes with A old wise man walks the earth and the earth is fool of dead young fools, yada, yada....By now you know where I'm gettin' at....

I'm, I'm afraid that only goes for relatives. You know, my late grandfather had wise words, for instance, one day I went to visit him and my cousin Darryle was living there and also there was my cousin Paris. Well anyway, while grandpa was sitting in his chair watching the cubs plays and in between innings, getting in the conversation Paris and I were having. He asked if we wanted a beer. I said no, and so did Paris, but Darryle chimed in and said he wanted one....Now let me get this out, Paris worked...I worked and Darryle didn't. Now here's the wisdom part:

My grandfather told him no, cause he doesn't drink with his grandchildren. Now this blew Darryle away, cause he knew he heard grandpa ask Paris and myself if we wanted one. And grandpa put him in his place. He said, the reason why he's not drinking a beer with him is because he can't replace the beer that he drunk. Now as for Jimmy (my nickname) and Paris these men can buy their beer and their grandfather one if they wanted...You on the other hand is depending on me to give you one...I'm sorry, I don't drink with my grandchildren."

You see, he equated Darryle to a child who still needs to depend on a grown up, usually his parent to supply his needs and wants. Notice he called me and Paris, "men" not children or boys. You see. Wisdom....

Now lets fast forward to today, it was a good day in Los Angeles, the weather was just nice, not too hot, not too cold and for you East coast guys, it's a difference!! but anyway, there was this old guy manning a shoe shine stand, and he asked if I needed a shine and I looked down at my shoes and decided to get one...Now this whole thing would have been fine, if he kept his conversation or his beliefs to a minimium. And if he was wise, he should've known that in his business, not only does he depend on the cost of the shoe shine, but tips if given. Right off the back, he bitches about the stand being in a bad area and how much money he makes in that spot. No sooner than he said that, a nice proportionately sized woman walked by and guess who almost broke his neck to look...well it was me but the old man looked longer!

After the walk-by two more attractive women walked by and I commented that the area may not be that bad...he disagreed. Next, he works on killing his tip and I'm gonna say this. You know it's no wonder why the democratic party takes the black vote for granted, cause most blacks assume that you're a democratic voter or supporter. So you know what this guy does, he goes on some rant about the president, being an evil son of a bitch and it's his [Bush] world. I think mother effer was used at least four times. Did I mention that the shine was $5.00, so if I tip the usual 15%, he's looking at what? less than a dollar? but we never give someone like that $.75, we give a dollar or two!! but as for this old man, he was working his way to a nickel.

So I give him a hint that I support the war and I think it's just...His reply, you don't know nothing about a war, you didn't serve? When I told him I did, he said it wasn't wartime, like he did in WWII and when I said I served in peacetime and in military conflict, he dismissed it. He said he served in the Army and the Navy and when I asked him how was that possible, he went on to mumble something about his grandmother and him having nine kids by nine different women. And oh! he was proud of being the beginning of a black community problem. So I tried to get him to explain how was he in two military services at the same time and of course he changed the subject and told me that his grandmother told him to not get with a big girl and if she's skinny, go look at her momma and her grandmother and if they are big, get outta dodge and oh! if you're dark skinned woman, forget about it...His grandmother forbide him to date dark skinned women. Did I mention the old man was 80?

So after five more attractive women go by, this time of Asian and Hispanic descent, he goes on a rant on how he hates illegals. Almost a subject we can talk about, until he went on a rant about Condaleeza Rice and her being a bitch...and that was it...

I could stands no mo'. I said, sir, with all due respect, could you finish my shoes because, one, I don't agree with your assessment of the Secretary of State, next, I voted republican and I support the president's efforts in the Middle East. Next, I hate to call you a liar, but you're a liar cause you can't answer how you managed to serve in two different services. And! this is a slap in the face of men your age who served and put up with what they had too for me and our next generation.

He looked shocked, but finished his job. and I paid him...but before I said, "for you to be 80 years of age, you did overcome something...he said, "what." I said, "you managed to live this long and still be a fool.

I tipped him.