From One Man to Another

Matt Schnarr

"Buy one pie, get one free"...I've been staring at that sign for about an hour now. I see a lot of grim faces behind it. Are they just buying the pie to get something free out of it? It doesn't look like they're buying it for the joy and happiness it brings them. Is the gratification of receiving more for your money worth the bland taste of dry blood between layers of ply board? What has this world come to? There's a shop across the street that sells pies for half as much, and they make you feel like your mother just gave you a loving kiss...makes you feel at home. The crust melts in your mouth releasing the filling to your taste buds through a river of sugar. Then the flavor permeates; like fresh roses in a small room on a fine summer day in South Louisiana. Its not fancy, and it doesn't have its own store, but it's literally a small price to pay for a small slice of heaven. It brings you joy and enlightenment, the world makes sense for the ten minutes that you savor the flavor. Then you finish the crust, come back to reality, and you exit out the door to saunter back to your jobs like zombies.

It's so dead out there...like a plague hit the town leaving everyone to mourn their losses. But the sun is out and the sky is so blue it takes you back to the womb. But no one is looking up, so they wouldn't notice. They're all looking ahead, going block to block, mile to mile, day to day, until years have gone by and they look up at that last moment; and it doesn't matter anymore. Or they're looking down, burdened by the ideas imprinted in their mind that they can't match up to...they, most of all, need to feel the sunlight. There are a few that look up, they enjoy life, they enjoy every last minute, every breath, every step, everything...even tears. No one notices them either. Even the ones looking ahead avoid eye contact, fearing that they'll find someone more worse off than them. And that would be a tragedy; how can you complain about the "not-so-bad" life you've received, but never really wanted, if there's someone else out there who actually has a shit life.
So self centered...they create a gravity pull around them, everyone falls into it, and listens to the complaints of a double-digit-thousand-a-year job that doesn't fuel them anymore...the center of this conceited universe. I have no sympathy for them, they have a job, they have a family, they have a home. What the hell do they want? Maybe if they stopped this self-pity banter they'd realize everything they could ever want is right in front of them. But they can't stop talking, so they pay someone to listen to them, or they pay someone to love them, they look for joy in all the wrong places, and that my friend, that causes the joy of those around them to burn out. Suspicion, addiction, depression, neglect, abuse; all of these are side effects from these prescriptions of comfort...and malice. Desire to cause someone pain to erase yours, that is truly a twisted logic. The pain can be physical, but in most cases, such as yours Mr. Randal, it is mental.

You have a high paying job, you've worked hard to be promoted, to earn more money and even more work than before. You've secured yourself a family, and you've supported them the whole time financially. But families don't just want support, they want love, respect, they need more than just your picture in a fathers day frame that still has the receipt in the back. Even you need these things, and you'll try to find something to quench that thirst....but more importantly, your family will too; and maybe some of them already have. Some of them are hurt. Because they find no love in you they are replacing their pain with happiness in something or someone else, by adding to yours. You're looking impatient so I'll get to the point. No, Mr. Randal. I will not take your money to watch your wife. It really isn't my concern, and it definitely isn't my problem. I find the light where only darkness remains, I take money to help, and no light will be revealed from this to help any situation at any price.

Perhaps you should look up, look at the sky sir. Have a bottle of realization instead another off-brand beer. Maybe you should take time off from work to see your wife in a shady green park, instead of making shady appointments with private dicks. Instead of suspecting, instead building on that pain you've caused yourself vicariously through her, maybe you should confront your wife about this...and whether or not there is any situation, you should take time to heal it. But you know what I am going to do? I'm going to pay the bill Mr. Randal, this meeting was on me, I'm going to walk out that door, look up at the afternoon blue, breathe in the cool air, and joyfully walk back to my office. I'll smile as I open the door, toss my hat to the rack, politely ask my secretary, who has been sitting there oh so long, to get my wife on the phone, to whom I will gingerly say that dinner sounds lovely. I suggest you do the same, but before leaving, you really should try the pie.