Saturday, July 29, 2017

Lesson 028 ~A Dog Day Afternoon~

Hey Lady Lu,
I love Braxton, a statement of fact, I love that little dog, as far as I’m concerned he’s my son and I would do anything for him, does that make me a decent human being, a hero, anything at all, I don’t know and I don’t care, he’s mine and I love him. Now I could go all in about love but this is going to be a long day and an even longer night and how long does that dog have?

No, I’m not talking about Braxton, not talking to Braxton at the moment though what concerns me the most at this particular moment is the neighbor’s dog. I wonder when does the moment come when you have to take the law into your own hands, when do people come to the moment of busting the window out of a car to save a dog’s life? Am I there yet my lady, I mean the things that I have done on Braxton’s behalf honestly but what of this dog’s dire straits?

You know I don’t understand people at all but if people are truly made in God’s image and “God is Cruel” as Stephen King put it, what does that say about people? Aren’t I the one to blame as well, if I were any sort of man, I’d go over there now and rescue that poor dog, I would talk to the neighbor, I would be doing something anything other than talking to you. I like talking to you Luna I apologize but as I said this is going to be one long day and one boring night, but this shouldn’t be about me really.

I got one dog that again is making me feel like a failure as a parent, maybe now I’m starting to understand why my “father” is the way he is, yeah I can be all sorts of dangerous and I hate his guts. On the other hand, I wonder if Superman ever had kids (I’m not a comic guy or most heroes) which do you think is easier Lady Lu, to be a father or to be the hero hmm?

How many times have I said I’m looking for a new role model but what would Jesus do is not the one, what would a father do and what would a hero do, I pretend to be one and courage stops me from being the other. Does it not take courage to be a father, a pet parent, always concerned what other people will think of me, while a hero would simply do what is necessary regardless of anything else.

“Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he’s not our hero. He’s a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight.” Lt. James Gordon, The Dark Knight (2008)

I was always more of a Batman over a Superman and why, because Bruce Wayne was only a man, albeit a wealthy one but a man nonetheless, I wouldn’t dare say I could be Batman though. No, I can’t kick the neighbor’s ass, can’t swoop in and save the poor doggie but what’s stopping me from offering money for his life and in the end whatever would I do with that life? Most people don’t see the dog at all and if they did what would they do, no I don’t want to be them I want to do a good thing, the right thing.

“Fear is the enemy of will. Will is what makes you take action; fear is what stops you, and makes you weak…” Green Lantern (2011)

Truer words huh Lady Lu, Batman had a choice but being a father to Braxton, the moment those four little legs hit the floor my course was set and I swore to look after him, even when he belonged to my sister when he wasn’t mine. To a father it doesn’t matter, a father does what has to be done as it has always been with me and Braxton, anxiety is damned, people be damned, there is no fear because he’s mine, I’m daddy and he needs me and that’s that. If I did it before can’t I do it again, hell when I wanted a dog so many years ago my father wouldn’t dream of it but my sister got an accessory for her purse, and then she had a real baby and Braxton came along with me, simple.

If anything I can’t sit back and do nothing, but as I say that here we are and he’s out there possibly suffering because I fail to act. Everyone I have told “Indiana” and “Gospel Girl” both say I should do something and I have always believed a man must see about his family but what about this poor dog.

A few months ago he was only the dog next door, Braxton’s nemesis and I was wondering what would happen if they actually did meet and now he’s a dog I just can’t watch suffer. I’m better than that, I want to scream at “Ms. Seasons” yeah I’m skeevy and inappropriate but I am a decent human being, I am.

“I feel like all I’ve done my whole life is be pretty. I mean, all I’ve done is be born! I’m a failed actress, a failed artist… I’m not much good as a mother. Come to think of it, I’m not even that pretty anymore. I have failed at everything, Yuri… but I won’t fail as a human being.” Ava Fontaine, Lord of War (2005)

I’ll ask you Luna and I suppose you’ll agree with everyone else, you see a dog, no collar and no tag, his back is dirty, he sleeps on a pile of rocks and hides from the rain and the heat of the sun. Your neighbors report that he’s been seen walking along, nearly hit by cars, the neighbors report him missing while his owner never does, you don’t see him eat or drink, you call out to him to make sure he’s alive. You return him twice, you block his gate so he won’t be in danger but you might have locked him into a prison, whatever are you supposed to do, what comes next?

They say, “Evil prevails when good men fail to act.” What they ought to say is, “Evil prevails.” Yuri Orlov

Because it does Luna, it absolutely positively does and if you don’t believe me ask the last couple of girls I made a pass at, then again while being evil or skeevy I did fail which in retrospect is a good thing. Only I can’t fail with this, would what I do be considered evil, “rescuing” the dog, I’m sure the neighbor and Braxton would probably. I don’t know what I’m going to do but the other neighbors are reaching out and they say this is wrong too, the way this dog is living and here I am, no hero, father, biology dictates a bit of man hood, just a bit if not longer, inappropriate?

“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” The Dark Knight (2008)

Today I don’t want to be, today I don’t want to be or do a lot of things but I will and for a thousand different reasons. Why not today I do something that truly matters, something that will make me more of a hero, more of a father, more of a man my friend on A Dog Day Afternoon.