The Company You Keep

[Lightning Rod]

are we judged or viewed by the people with which we associate?

what kind of company do you prefer?

Intellectuals?

Writers?

Musicians?

Plumbers?

Accountants?

Athletes?

Deadbeat weirdos?

Dope whores?

Scientists?

Lawyers?

What kind of company do you keep?

[abcrystcats]

As long as they are enlivening conversationalists, I don't care. I don't label people like that, or I try not to.

I have had some fascinating discussions with cab drivers. Cab drivers are among the most idiosyncratic, thoughtful and articulate people in the world. I would never be ashamed of proclaiming my association with an interesting cab driver. I was in a cab, relaying a complaint about work. I uttered some apt quote and then said, "I wonder who said that?" The cab driver told me: "I believe it was Homer." I looked it up, he was right, and ever since that moment I have made it a point to not care a damn how it looks to other people.

Damn it all, I actually miss the cab drivers I knew in my old town -- the semi-depressed closet poet, the nutty pseudo-screenwriter who began and ended every conversation with an "I" statement and was interesting nonetheless, the politically interested super-liberal Iranian national, and the similarly interested Afghan national, and especially the loud, obnoxious ex-Orthodox Jew, super-bigoted, but incredibly compassionate Miko. He was once a wealthy actor appearing in films with William Shatner and Yul Brynner. Then he was in jail. What an incredible guy. He spewed barbaric prejudice at times, but yet he was the most humane, generous, wise and compassionate person. He was an incredibly complicated contradiction.

If I had to be associated with any specific group, I'd pick the cab drivers and damn the "image". I wouldn't give a crap who judged me for it. A ten minute ride with Miko in the morning sometimes set me up for a whole miserable day in hell -- I mean, at work.

[Lightning Rod]

cat,

i have to agree with you about cab drivers. I was a cab driver once. It was a very instructive experience. Damned is the teacher that can't learn from his students.

One time a guy got into my cab. He was the owner of a local Dallas restaurant chain. He could have afforded a limosine but he told me that from time to time he just hired a cab instead of going to a shrink. He said he found it much more productive. We drove around and talked for most of the day. He got off cheap.

[abcrystcats]

Yup, after I discovered the wonderful world of cab drivers, I procrastinated, BIG TIME, about getting myself some reasonable transportation. It became an ongoing embarassment at work, needless to say!

I hate to say it, because it's embarassing, but my world had gotten so intellectually destitute that cab drivers were a welcome relief in a horrendous world of zombies.

Why is it that the people we least think of are so often the ones with the most to offer? I wish I could say that I got something sexual out of this, but it was purely intellectual enlightenment, all the way. These were wonderful, unique individuals.I am so glad I got the opportunity to talk with them. Just knowing there were people out there who thought and cared deeply brought me around to taking my own life far more seriously.

So, these "categorizations" of yours mean nothing to me. I talk to everybody and hope to find another living human being in the mesh, every time.

It figures you were a cab driver. It's probably some karmic pre-requisite to advancing to another level or something ...

Cat.

[Doreen Peri]

I have no clue if I am judged by the people with whom I associate.

I mainly hang out with an intellectual writer who's also a musician and says he wishes he'd chosen to be a plumber, rather than a poet, though I can assure you, he does very well at plumbing - plus he's both mentally and physically astute, an athlete by any person's definition, often described by many as a deadbeat weirdo, well known for being a former dope whore, a scientific marvel, the most trusted legal advisor I have ever had the honor to associate with – and a former cab driver, to boot.

And unlike ms. cat, i DO get something sexual out of it.



I'm hoping this will be the company I keep.

[Zlatko Waterman]

I find that electricians I have talked to seem to know how to connect.

I like people in the trades, probably because that's where I come from-- my stratum.

My father was a meat cutter. My grandparents and uncles were loggers. One of my great-grandfathers raised sheep and dogs.

And Grace Cleveland, my grandmother, was related to President Grover Cleveland.

A nice mix, and I found most of them fascinating to listen to, particularly when drunk.

I do amateur wiring myself ( I also like fixing old appliances)-- and plumbing.

Samuel Becket eschewed the company of literary types, critics, other writers and so forth. He did have a few close literary and artistic friends, like the artist Avigdor Arikha and Arikha's wife, the poet Anne Atik.

Mostly Sam trolled the working-class pubs alone.

No doubt trying to land a few scraps of dialogue for "Molloy" and "The Unnamable."

" I can't go on, I'll go on."

--SB



Zlatko

[Lightning Rod]

Z-ko

In my youth I worked as an electrician. I pulled wire through conduit greased by soap, got knocked off ladders by a jolt of unexpected electricity, crawled under musty old houses and twisted wires among the scorpions, sweated through attics full of itchy insulation.

In my more Whitmanesque moments I wish for the scratch of a blue collar.

[Doreen Peri]

ok, Lightning Rod, now that we all told you about the company we keep, why don't you tell us about the company you keep?

[Lightning Rod]

Sure Ms Peri, I'll tell you about the comany I keep

I've always liked whores and strippers. Pimps and hustlers and dope dealers are among my favorites too. Con men are an interesting lot and gamblers suit me well. I'm not too fond of cops, though I've known a few. Animal trainers and magicians are swell as are jugglers and clowns.

But my present company, mon cher, suits me best of all. A petulant and exciting young girl like you is my best choice. You make me wash your dishes and clean your gutters. I do this, why? Because I cherish the love and acceptance of a woman who is smarter than physics and more beautiful than aesthetics. And, my dear, you've taught me everything I know about plumbing.