“It’s not easy love, but you’ve got friends you can trust,
Friends will be friends,
When you’re in need of love they give you care and attention,
Friends will be friends,
When you’re through with life and all hope is lost,
Hold out your hand cos friends will be friends right till the end”
Friends will be friends,
When you’re in need of love they give you care and attention,
Friends will be friends,
When you’re through with life and all hope is lost,
Hold out your hand cos friends will be friends right till the end”
I don’t make friends easily. Many people have called themselves my friend over the years, but for me, a friend is someone I would take a bullet for. If you are reading this, and don’t know I would take a bullet for you, I wouldn’t, and therefore, you are an acquaintance. Nothing personal. Get over yourself. This is not a reflection on you in any way. If you are family, and there are so few of you, in the immortal words of his Purpleness Prince, “I would Die 4 U”. You are in a separate category. (Even Rob and Mary after the Brooklyn Cheesecake Incident)
There are 4 positions filled currently. I am not holding auditions for another spot currently. I am sure you are crushed. Lol. (And yes I actually laughed out loud.) I will say that one position is on hold and has, in the past been filled by (fill in the name of ex-wife # 1 or #2), but I am not currently holding auditions for that position either. (And no, a flock member doesn’t get that status. It is earned, but bestowed.) While there have been many flock members, there have, to date, only been 2 promoted (or demoted if you were to ask them now). I’m not planning on any future promotions, but never say never??????
Let me list the 4 in no particular order. I am going to have to create nicknames for 3 of them as I don’t think I have spoken about them here before.
· THE BRUIN…This guy started out as, maybe one of the biggest punks I have ever met. He was 17 when I met him and he was working for me at the video (former) giant with the torn ticket as their logo. He was in high school and was everything I was not at that age. He was popular, had a car, lots of friends and a girl friend that worshipped the ground he walked on. He walked all over her and she still loved him completely. One story that jumps to the top is one day he came in looking like he hadn’t slept in weeks. I mentioned this to him and he looked me right in the eye and said, “Well I was up fucking your mother all night long”, I told him my mother was dead and, without bre4aking eye contact he said that explained a lot about her just laying there. I wanted to kill him but I honestly laughed so hard a little pee came out. At some point he stopped being a kid and became my assistant manager. He grew quickly and was like a sponge when it came to learning business basics. He was promoted to manager in short order (I wish I could take credit for this but I am not THAT pompous.) He really was an amazing manager and made me raise my game to keep up on a daily basis. I left the company and he stayed a little longer, but soon out grew the company and switched his focus to the pet industry, something he was, and still is, passionate about. Ask him about salt water fish tanks and stand back. He now lives in Mass and I giggle like a school girl when calls things “wicked cool”, but this boy has become a man I respect. He wears many hats now. Father and boy friend. Son and brother. Manager and co-worker. And while we drifted apart here and there (thanks for missing my wedding sir!!! Maybe you knew something I didn’t), but to this day I would catch a plane on no notice if he needed me and I have no doubt he would do the same. We play phone tag and often leave expletive laden messages on each others phones, more often than not referring to each other as “my former best friend”, but I would step in front of a bullet for him. Love you sir.
· Bronx started out as a co-worker as did all the chosen 4, but I am pretty sure he didn’t like me at the start. We worked for the former pizza giant that had a 30 minute guarantee, and while I learned mostly everything I know about management from my time there, the best thing I ever learned was that Bronx is the best of us all. He is the one that will be silent when he should listen and speaks when you most need it. I know I have added to his life as well. I introduced him to Robert B. Parker and the joys of reading. I was like Nino Brown…the first one was free. The addiction it created has been costing him since then. (I have a goofy grin on my face as I write this because he will appreciate the New Jack City Bronx is the opposite. He doesn’t need you for anything. He is a fully self contained unit. A few years ago he was diagnosed with a serious medical condition. I heard about after he was hospitalized and most over the situation. He had a near fatal car crash after that and it was the same thing. He described it as “no big deal’. Master of the understatement, he has been living with the repercussions of the accident daily since then. When I need advice I call him and have been known to refer to him as YODA. He knows a lot about me and often will share only what he thinks I need at the time and never more than he thinks I can deal with. He and I have had our moments of distance as well and when I left the pizza company, I think it was over a year we didn’t speak. When I saw him I said something stupid to him and he turned around and walked away for another 6 months or so. When he was ready, we never spoke of either incident. He is like that. He also almost shot me one time with a Berretta 9mm, but that is his story to tell. I would step in front of a bullet for him. Love you sir.
· Hippie is the first female in the group and marks a change in my ability to meet a beautiful female and not picture her sans clothes. The first time I met her she was being introduced to me by our manager when she started working for the bank I am currently employed with. He gave me a brief description of her and said she would be joining our team. I asked where she came from before this, obviously meaning her training/management experience. She asked matter of factly, “You mean like today”? If that sounds like she is upidstey, you have never met her and that is your loss. She is my training inspiration. In any given training situation I often ask myself “What would (name removed by blog policy) do”? I often am not capable of doing what she would do because I am a man and have limited brain capabilities, but I strive for herness (that’s right. I created a word). When she was pregnant and we were walking up the stairs she asked me if her butt was getting big. I told her no, not that I was looking. She told me it was my responsibility to tell her if it ever did. She also told me the rule was “cute first” when I questioned the shoes she was wearing and why woman wore, what in my mind look like torture devices. She listened to me cry over Papi’s Caribbean food when I decided I was leaving #2 and told me that the teenager I saw right after was a huge mistake. She said I deserved better than both were willing to give and that, no matter how I felt at the time, I was a great person that should value myself higher than I did. She was correct on all counts, yet I still struggle with this to this day. I will end with Hippie by saying her husband is the perfect man for her. He is bigger than life, but I would say he personifies the term Gentle Giant. He is an amazing person and I no longer weep for the future of society since they have procreated and their son will one day run this place. I would step in front of a bullet for her. Love you Madame.
· The latest entry is CBP. She will probably be shocked (or maybe not, since she is way smarter than most I have met) to see herself included in this list, but she shouldn’t be. I met her in November and I already know she will be a lifelong friend. We have shared more tear filled conversations that I ever did with both wives and the above 3 combined. I am sure at times I am a burden to her, but she would never tell me. She is a constant sounding board for me. Her unwavering confidence, both personal and professionally is something I envy in her and strive to add to my personal arsenal. She has become my New York
I am sure I will get an email from at least one person slashing me for saying they are not a “friend”. Please understand I am not judging you lacking, I am judging me not worthy.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
In light of the recent release of their new album here is a link to an acoustic Van Halen set. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKkh9bgeo0g
Have not seen Bronx in years, and live close by – Yoda is a good term for him. now go take your lady parts and watch the voice.