It Never Stays In Vegas

Every day is to make one true thing.

Photo: openverse.org by Rennett Stowe is licensed under CC BY 2.0

For Whistler it was a line…and for me as well…even if not quite the same.

Lamentably, to make one true thing a day is a Sisyphean task when residing in Hades.

America as it was has given way to the United States as it is — a nation whose main preoccupations seem to be defecation and fornication. Unsurprisingly, these are the two most base levels of biology.

So when a close acquaintance was recently informed of the imminent termination of his experiences, it became clear a respite for review had been reached.

Being told you have X amount of moments left to live can do that for someone.

Time to air truths.

You Are Not Special — Merely Fortunate

As regards well-written prose something recently come across (unattributed, or the author would be identified) was the following:

"Fear is often the mistaken belief in false evidence.”

That, Sportsfans, is the sort of sentence to save your life.

Virtually nothing we fear is the most likely outcome of events…rather an irrational assertion of our conscience self that ludicrous improbabilities are impending before us.

With that as a premise is presented to my suddenly-mortality-aware friend a few things that did actually occur over the past few weeks…

• Avery Davis, of North Carolina, age 6, was killed in Orangeburg Country, North Carolina while on a hunting expedition…accidentally shot in the face…by his 17-year-old companion who no doubt will carry this incident with him the remainder of his life…and at a school ceremony for the youngster teachers dressed with camouflage in his honor.
• Patrick Kennedy, Jr., of Milton, Massachusetts, age 42, was discovered in the parking lot of the Kowloon Restaurant located in Saugus, Massachusetts, in the early evening hours of December 2 where he had been attending the birthday party of a friend…initially considered to be the victim of a stabbing, it was later ascertained the father of two was instead killed in "a freak accident”…caused by a knife he was wearing on a device around his own neck.
• Jaclyn Elmquist, formerly of Minnesota and recently of Manhattan, only 24 years of age, employed at an executive search film, and residing in a building where a 2-bedroom apartment was reportedly listed for $2 million…went out on November 30 with friends who "put her in a cab” (i.e. she was stupid drunk)…and was later seen on video surveillance weaving her way on a sidewalk (i.e. she was really insanely drunk)…and who that night accidentally fell into a trash compactor in her complex.

Point? As bad as things may seem when facing a prognosis from a physician, at least you didn't get shot in the face when you were a child…or accidentally slit your own throat after going to a birthday party…or inadvertently toss yourself down a garbage chute because you were blackout drunk.

Suffice it to say, surely none of the above ever considered any of these outcomes to end their story.

What you fear probably will not occur and what does happen you probably will never expect.

There are worse things than having a known expiration date.

Fear and Loathing

On a more jovial note, among the most comical things emanating from the House of Sussex (i.e. Horrible Harry and Mendacious Meghan) was the infamous Oprah Interview.

Except it was not the kvetching and the complaining which made one chortle, but comments from the viewers in Great Britain who witnessed the commercials between train wreck monologues.

For in the "Land of the Free” (if you don't include Freedom of Speech or Freedom of Association), pharmaceutical companies are allowed by law to advertise their wares.

Indeed, America along with New Zealand are the only TWO NATIONS in the ENTIRE WORLD where legalized pill pushers get to show advertisements direct to consumers.

British reactions were priceless!

Sadly, since Big Pharma makes big bucks by convincing Big Americans, who are overwhelmingly morbidly obese, that no illness issues are caused by drinking a case of soda per day while eating copious amounts of processed foods, nearly every advertisement (and I mean almost EVERY SINGLE ONE) targets citizens to "ask their doctor” about a prescription for anything and everything.

And, oh Lordy, do they ever inquire!

Yet be not overly sympathetic to our learned Sawbones, who themselves frequently get a kickback from Big Pharma in the form of "limited edition” artworks, ocean cruises and seminars in exotic locales.

The main problem with this system of Mad Men Medicine is that it has nothing to do with health.

Even less to do with surviving…or furthermore existing.

Contrary to Conventional Wisdom the purpose of living is not to avoid dying.

The End, Or Something Like It

Another of the more beautiful lines ever to be written is thus:

"Where is that yesterday that worried you so?”

The passage was brought to my attention three decades ago and it continues to hold true.

Nearly everything we believe of monumental importance pales in comparison to the veil.

For the benefit of both my friend and my readers, this author is willing to share with you the exact best day of your existence.

Brace yourself, as you may not enjoy what you hear…

It's today.

Because tomorrow you will have one less today going forward. Whether you have the luxury of a lingering deathbed experience or the proverbial flash before your eyes, one of the last breaths you take will be spent wishing you had just a little more time — under any circumstances.

Today, awful as it may seem, is that twenty-four hours you are going to someday fervently wish you had left.

Use wisely.