So
at this point I guess I'm basically just a quack.
The eternal late-night counter bum who doesn't have anything in common
with
William Burroughs or the
dead aspect of Jim Morrison's American Prayer.
Just make my coffee black, hold the cream, hold the sissy stuff; a little
bit o music
and a beautiful midwestern waitress will supply the right harmony for
my holy modal
caffeine round. Midnight;
there it is. And life's disappointments fall right in line
with everything else that once made a difference.
And
like the scene in the movie that keeps replaying itself
I keep drinking too much coffee for my own good.
I keep seeing the cup approach me from where the steaming night
meets the desert sea, and where I've given up trying to hide from reality.
There was something good to be said for memories
but after so many silent retellings a counter bum can only ask for another
refill.
"...heck,
any old american V-8 or straight-6 could run on two cylinders if they
were the right two cylinders..."
—anon
With
that in mind, it's easy to imagine a whole whoop-de-doo about a whole
lotta unlikely things.
Fact: The origin of the term "getting fired" goes back to
the days of pre-literacy when the verbal tradition was what carried
information and history into the next generations. In those tribal times,
human folks lived with specific basic needs, highly dependent upon one
another, with very few possessions. One heavily valued thing was the
ability to tell a story, be it for entertainment or instruction. The
elders spoke, the young ones listened. When an elder member of the tribe
could no longer serve a utilitarian function (hunt, fish, midwife...),
he or she was then expected to have stories to tell. Without a story,
an elder was considered a liability to the communal good—one not
worthy of sharing in the tribe's meager supply of food or of occupying
an allotment of property. It was all about survival. Without at least
a tale to tell, a tribesperson was useless and usually banished into
the wilderness to fend for his or her self. Their possessions and hut
were set afire and eliminated from the community. In other words, they
were "fired."