DREAMS? BAH HUMBUG!
I remember this story that I heard as a kid. I’ll confess that was along time ago but I’m pretty sure I’ve got the main elements of it right.
So there are these two fellows who worked for the most prominent family in the country. They’re in prison, accused of some serious wrong though the facts of the case are a bit hazy. There’s a hint that one of them is guilty as charged and the other has been, if not an innocent bystander, maybe an unsuspecting helper in the crime. In any case, the story as I pieced it together suggests that the entire matter was still under review.
It happened that there was another prisoner, a good-looking kid with a friendly sort of way, a kid who happened to be trusted by the main man to run things for him. This young guy was making his rounds one morning and there were the two accused looking as miserable as weightlifters with bulging hernias.
“What’s with all the miserable faces?” he asked them. Seems they both had dreams they thought were significant but they didn’t know what to make of them.
“Dreams,” scoffed he young guy, “Dreams—don’t give them another thought. I don’t know what they mean or how it is we have dreams but I can tell you from personal experience that they’re rubbish.
“You don’t say,” one of the miserable ones murmured.
“Yes, I do say,” said the good-looking prison-trusty. “Take me for example. Years ago I had a slew of dreams about how prominent I’d be; how everybody would be bowing and scraping in front of me and what happened? I end up here! That’s dreams for you. And I’ll tell you what else—I’m in here for a crime I didn’t commit. Yes, yes, I know, you’ve heard that everyone here is innocent but I really am. For a while I thought maybe the dreams would come true but day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year of disappointment kills dreams dead as a hammer. You want my advice?”
“Yes, give me your advice, based on your personal experience,” the other miserable one groaned.
“My advice is that you live without dreams. Settle for the world as it is. Be realistic and tough, grab what you can get of what you see, look out for number 1, take control of your life, be the commander of your soul, there’s nothing bigger than you—remember that!”
And they did.
And they all lived unhappily ever after!
I now remember where I heard that. It was in an old book.
“Genes” or “Geniuses”—something like that. The prison-trusty was called Joe, I think. Oh well, what difference does it make. Stories aren’t worth anything. They change nothing. What we need is power, power to get what we want and hang the rest..
Dreams? Bah humbug!
Hmmm.
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.