Whenever I hear a major celebrity has died, I am reminded that there is no such thing as time. Our most vivid memories of these individuals are when they were at their prime. Their vitality and life force made them seem indestructible.
Then suddenly, ten or 20 or 30 years later they are gone. It seemingly happens in the blink of an eye or the snapping of the fingers. I’m quite conscious the same will happen to me one day.
Michael Jackson has been the latest casualty to this phenomenon. A failure to understand that there is no such thing as time is what bothers me so much about teenage smokers. It is not as if they don’t know the long-term consequences in terms of addiction and ill health. It’s just that now is in the moment, friends are calling and the future is so far away.
I’m nearing 62 years of age. In other words, I have taken up residence in that far distant future and can bear witness it was a very short journey to arrive here.
The bridge of time is foreshortened by long-ago memories that can seem as fresh as today. Regret is the baggage when past foolishness leads to present pain.
Teens who smoke might as well have signs on their backs reading, “I’m stupid and I don’t listen to anybody.”
My wife Donna recently opened my eyes to another aspect of the passage of time I had never considered before. In our consumer-oriented and advertising-driven society, we worship youth. But, in all truth, many people become more beautiful as they grow older.
Among those with some acquired maturity, smiles are less wide, but they are more knowing. Eyes may be a little less bright, but they draw you in deeper. Skin may lose resilience, but it’s softer and warmer. The soul finds more expression in the form.
Any discussion about the nature of time leads into a consideration of moving backwards and forwards across the ages. This is a staple of the science fiction genre. The trouble with time travel stories is that they always run up against logical inconsistencies.
Nevertheless, here’s a little tale I’ve put together involving a mysterious stranger who walks into a drinking establishment and approaches the bartender.
STRANGER: If I’m able to convince you that I am a time traveler, will you pour me a free drink?
BARTENDER: That’s a good one. Sure, give it a try.
STRANGER: I know this will be a shock, but I’m your father and I can prove it. Your mother was a very beautiful woman and destined for great things, but she died in childbirth.
BARTENDER: Okay, that’s true so far. I’ll need a lot more than that, though.
STRANGER: I know that we look about the same age, pushing 40, but we have the same body type, except you’re putting on a little weight. Here, let me show you a picture of me when I was a little boy. Wasn’t I the spitting image of you?
BARTENDER: Wow! You’re right. But I was told my father was killed in the war.
STRANGER: Your aunt and uncle just said that to make you feel better.
BARTENDER: You do know a lot about me. Is it all based on research?
STRANGER: Would I go to all that trouble for one free beer?
BARTENDER: I guess not. You mean it’s really true then?
STRANGER: Yes, I am your father. But I have to tell you, Luke, I’m a little disappointed. I thought by now you’d be a Jedi Knight.
****
I get my rant on in this story from a few years ago. The main perpetrators may have changed since then, but the level of gauche behavior remains distressingly high: No Problem, Excuse Me and the Limits of Civility.
MJ’s not the only celebrity having a significant impact in the afterlife, as you’ll discover in The Mechanized Sorting Day of the Dead.
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For my first book, “Two Scoops” Is Just Right, please click here for the paperback version and here for the Kindle e-book version.
For the sequel, “Three Scoops” Is A Blast! (with the award-winning “Size of the Skip”) click here for paperback and here for Kindle.
For “Four Scoops” Is Over The Top (containing Hemingway short-listed “Caboose Follies”) click here for paperback and here for Kindle.
And finally, for my latest book, “Five Scoops” Is An Addiction!, please click here for the paperback and here for the Kindle digital version.
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