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A LITTLE ATTITUDE
CAN WORK WONDERS |
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I was never a huge fan of the Monty Python movie comedies,
but I've sure been thinking about one legendary scene lately. In fact, I
thought about it again Monday morning when I woke up to an orange glow in
the smoke-encrusted sky, which I sadly realized was the sun.
Despite its grisly connotations, the Monty Python scene
always makes me laugh, thereby proving gallows humor can come in handy.
And considering what's going on in our world these days, it can also be
good therapy.
The scene is when King Arthur, searching for knights to serve
at Camelot, comes across a particularly stubborn knight who won't let him
cross a bridge. A sword fight ensues, and Arthur chops off the knight's
left arm.
"Tis' but a scratch," responds the gallant knight
as he continues fighting with his right arm, reminding me of how I felt
during the first days of the pandemic. And then, of course, Arthur chops
off his right arm.
"It's only a flesh wound," continues the knight as
he looks at both of his arms on the ground and begins to kick the King,
which reminded me of how I felt during the lockdown and gradual
re-opening.
"You have no arms, you ninny!" cries King Arthur.
"What are you going to do, bleed on me?"
The knight, shouting "I am invincible!" continues
to kick at Arthur. That's when Arthur cuts off his left leg, which
reminded me of how I felt during the protests against injustice, the
rioting and the summer surge of COVID-19.
Hopping around on one leg, the knight still declares that he
always triumphs. So Arthur chops off his other leg, leaving him as nothing
more than a stump, which reminded me of how I felt all week from the
devastating fires and smoke that is tormenting us in Northern California
right now.
As King Arthur trots away on his imaginary horse, the
knight continues to taunt him. "Where are you going, you lily-livered
bastard?" shouts the knight. "Come back here and I'll bite your
legs off!"
And that reminds me, always with a chuckle, as to how we're
going to get through this mess.
Perseverance, dedication, and a realization that we will
overcome whatever is thrown at us. It will take time, but we will prevail.
And for whatever it's worth, like the knight with no appendages, it
doesn't help to feel sorry for ourselves.
I think it also helps to realize we've had a darn good run.
Many have seen the material on the internet about imagining you were born
in the year 1900. You live through World War I (22 million dead) and when
you're 20 years old you survive the Spanish Flu (50 million dead).
You suffer through the Great Depression in your 30's, and
then World War II in your 40's (70 million dead, including 6 million in
the Holocaust). Then the Korean War, followed by the Vietnam War. And
you're still only 75.
In comparison, my generation (I'm 66) and the younger
generations have had a relative cakewalk up until now. Not to say that
it's been a completely smooth ride, obviously, but we've managed to avoid
the worldwide catastrophic disasters that older generations have suffered
through.
Maybe it was just a matter of time until it was our turn. And
maybe it's our turn to show that we can handle it like so many generations
have done in the past. The wars ended, the Spanish Flu passed and the
Great Depression was followed by many, many decades of economic growth.
Now we have businesses closing, and record unemployment. We
can't always go where we want to go and are mostly confined to our homes.
And when we step outside, wisps of smoke fill our lungs. Naturally, we
wonder what's next---earthquakes, swarms of locusts, meteor showers?
Like the knight in the Monty Python scene, I say bring it on.
Trust me, I'm not saying I want any more calamities to come our way. I'm
just saying we're invincible and we will eventually triumph, no matter
what the world has in store for us.
We may have surrendered some appendages in this lost year of
2020, but we need to keep biting, and occasionally chuckling, from time to
time. |
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