Report Out, Day 3

When a boy turns 13 he should be sealed in a barrel and fed through the bung-hole.  At the age of eighteen a decision should be made, either let them out or drive a plug into the bung-hole.   -Mark Twain

Yesterday, Saturday, was a difficult day.

Imagine walking a very large puppy.  Let's say a pitbull-Malemute brute of 140 pounds.  Powerful of build, keen of eyesight and short of attention.

Further, imagine this puppy-dog fights any sensation of the leash.  It goes berserk with any leash that is shorter than 12' of length.

Imagine walking that puppy-dog down Bell Highway, a gravel road bounded by mature white oak and hickory woods.  As a sparsely populated thoroughfare it receives the most nominal of attention from the Eaton County road crews.  They plow with their zamboni just frequently enough to bring the ice back to a high lustre.

The curse of connectivity

The most flattering things a person can do is to be fully present for the person they are physically with.

That is not how fourteen year olds roll.  Kubota was ignoring the guest he had over for the last couple of hours of the visit as he was bidding for a better "next thing". 

It is ironic that Pawpaw recently wrote about auctions.  That is exactly how Kubota's working the phone seemed.  I got the sense that the multiple parties Kubota was "working" were also engaged in the same dynamic.  Plans were made and then vaporized.  Repeatedly.

WHOA!  See that squirrel!  BAM!  Damn.  It made it up the tree.  Sorry about the lump on the back of your head.  ANOTHER SQUIRREL!...

Another exhausting aspect is that somewhere Kubota latched onto the myth that "No." is an invitation to argue.  He became extremely agitated when I thumbs-downed several of his plans.


I am a simple guy.  "Yes" means yes.  "No" means no.  "Maybe" is an invitation to practice your sales skills.

The Plan

As it stands, we will be going to church at 11.  We will have lunch at a restaurant afterwards.

One of my brothers graciously offered to let Kubota hang out with him for a few hours.  My brother is working.  He has some co-workers who he wants Kubota to meet as potential role models.  I will drop him off at 2.

If all goes well, he might get to spend a couple of hours with his girl friend.  Then back home.