Sage had always been a different cat. I remember, when he was a little kid, there was this rotten boy in the class . . . Bad Donald, I seem to remember.”
“Bad Ronald,” I clarify, embarrassed.
“Anyway, this little asshole was a terror, and he messed with everyone . . . well, everyone except Sage. He knew better. One day the whole class is out at a park, having a nice little picnic. This little menace sees these two girls having a tea party out between a grove of trees. What they hadn’t noticed was a giant beehive dangling just above their heads. Ronald did. That little bastard took a large stick and smacked the hive as hard as he could and then ran away. They heard the girls screaming as the bees swarmed. The teachers were too far away to get to the girls in time to help. Then this little maniac”—he points at me—“grabs the thick plastic tablecloth right off the picnic table, sending the food flying everywhere, and runs like a wild banshee towards the grove. He dives on top of the girls just before the swarm gets to them and covers them under the tablecloth. He holds them tight and protects them, even as the bees use his ass as a dartboard.”
Pop smiles at me, knowing I hate to hear this story, except the last part.
“Now, here is my favorite part. The bees eventually relent, and the paramedics come to get my little nutjob. The girls only have two bites apiece. He is covered from head to toe with stingers, so they lay him facedown on the gurney. I think, frankly, they were amazed he was alive at all. They move him to the ambulance and turn around to open the doors. Now imagine the kind of pain he must have been in, right?”
The crew is right there with him.
“The paramedics turn their backs on him; he looks up and sees a teacher holding Bad Ronald, who is laughing. Then this one”—again, gesturing towards me—“he gets up off the stretcher, walks right over to Bad Ronald, and slugs him right in the face with all he had. Knocks Ronald’s front teeth out! Kid always hit like a damn sledgehammer. Then he passes out cold. The paramedics had to take two kids to the hospital!”
We have been told that there is nothing to be done about the state of the world for our entire lives. That’s just the way the world is. It’s a distant, nasty place, and you just have to survive. But that is a lie! It doesn’t have to be. It isn’t for those people anymore. We have within our grasp the opportunity to change everything—and we will!
Sage had always been a different cat. I remember, when he was a little kid, there was this rotten boy in the class . . . Bad Donald, I seem to remember.”
“Bad Ronald,” I clarify, embarrassed.
“Anyway, this little asshole was a terror, and he messed with everyone . . . well, everyone except Sage. He knew better. One day the whole class is out at a park, having a nice little picnic. This little menace sees these two girls having a tea party out between a grove of trees. What they hadn’t noticed was a giant beehive dangling just above their heads. Ronald did. That little bastard took a large stick and smacked the hive as hard as he could and then ran away. They heard the girls screaming as the bees swarmed. The teachers were too far away to get to the girls in time to help. Then this little maniac”—he points at me—“grabs the thick plastic tablecloth right off the picnic table, sending the food flying everywhere, and runs like a wild banshee towards the grove. He dives on top of the girls just before the swarm gets to them and covers them under the tablecloth. He holds them tight and protects them, even as the bees use his ass as a dartboard.”
Pop smiles at me, knowing I hate to hear this story, except the last part.
“Now, here is my favorite part. The bees eventually relent, and the paramedics come to get my little nutjob. The girls only have two bites apiece. He is covered from head to toe with stingers, so they lay him facedown on the gurney. I think, frankly, they were amazed he was alive at all. They move him to the ambulance and turn around to open the doors. Now imagine the kind of pain he must have been in, right?”
The crew is right there with him.
“The paramedics turn their backs on him; he looks up and sees a teacher holding Bad Ronald, who is laughing. Then this one”—again, gesturing towards me—“he gets up off the stretcher, walks right over to Bad Ronald, and slugs him right in the face with all he had. Knocks Ronald’s front teeth out! Kid always hit like a damn sledgehammer. Then he passes out cold. The paramedics had to take two kids to the hospital!”
We have been told that there is nothing to be done about the state of the world for our entire lives. That’s just the way the world is. It’s a distant, nasty place, and you just have to survive. But that is a lie! It doesn’t have to be. It isn’t for those people anymore. We have within our grasp the opportunity to change everything—and we will!
