tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980200.post6432764994727894794..comments2023-09-10T06:31:57.471-05:00Comments on Dispatches From the Away-Dad Nation: Convenient GenerosityHal Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17350917997504370743noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980200.post-58826122757597884782008-02-17T14:27:00.000-06:002008-02-17T14:27:00.000-06:00Good to find you here, my friend. Any chance to r...Good to find you here, my friend. Any chance to read or reread your wonderful articles are a pleasure!Pamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17133743056974995270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980200.post-44470428812221483862008-02-03T14:01:00.000-06:002008-02-03T14:01:00.000-06:00The title troubles me, Hal. Convenient generosity...The title troubles me, Hal. Convenient generosity. Hmm. That's me, generous when it's convenient <I>for me.</I> I guess as a society we've become too distrustful or paranoid or whatever to strike up conversations with complete strangers who appear to be, um, "on the road." We seem to have lost a little of our sense of community and/or pathos or just simple friendliness toward strangers. I blame CNN. We hear of every single instance of "something bad" happening anywhere in the country. It's made us a suspicious, wary lot. <BR/><BR/>In your position, I'm not sure I would've been brave enough to strike up a conversation with the guy, as opposed to the empathetic one who did. And I may have even walked out wishing I'd given him something other than my best wishes. Glad you're not me.<BR/><BR/>Now, as for your resemblance to certain t.v. characters... Remember how John Cleese in "Fawlty Towers" could take any insult and try to turn it around? If someone called me a chipmunk I might have said, "Really? Which one...the good looking one? Alvin? Theodore?"<BR/><BR/>I always used to envision myself as the Jan-Michael Vincent character ("Stringfellow Hawke") in the wonderful t.v. show, "Airwolf." The sad truth is that I more closely resemble the Ernest Borgnine character, "Dom."Bob Barbanes:https://www.blogger.com/profile/12344068760904928223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33980200.post-32208597118025612682008-02-03T09:39:00.000-06:002008-02-03T09:39:00.000-06:00Before my wife and I were married we used to go to...Before my wife and I were married we used to go to breakfast a lot. There was this little place, in San Diego, about 5-7 (it gets a little hazy) miles from where we lived. I was in a weird mood, a stupid mood, and we got into an arguement at this breakfast place. I told my future bride that "I would walk home", that I needed time to "cool off".<BR/>Well, lo and behold she let me. Zoomed off and didn't look back. Coulldn't believe it! It was an idle threat, but she took me seriously! I hadn't shaved and was looking a little haggard when I started my, as Sharyn likes to call it, my "Stupid Man March". 7 miles is a long way, and it was a pretty rough part of town, gang territory. I stopped to rest and slumped down in front of a store front when a particularly well dressed man in a BMW or something stopped, rolled down his window and asked if I 'needed' some cash for some food. I politely explained that I wasn't homeless, that I was simply a stupid guy. He smiled and left.<BR/>Hal, we all are way too jaded and suspicious these days. How many times have I ignored the guy with the sign in front of McDonalds? How difficult would it be to buy an extra cheeseburger for him?<BR/>You're a good man, Charlie Brown, you're a good man.Uncle Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04570327775449916376noreply@blogger.com