david, the monk on top of the mountain
Monday, December 20

a family story:

when my brothers and i were all younger, maybe in elementary, we used to sit around with our mom & dad and have "serious" family discussions. We would come up with crazy plans for a big mansion that we would all share together (complex pentagons, octagons with huge auditoriums, multiple kitchens, and some 30 rooms), plans to accomplish things in the world, what car to buy next, etc, etc.

i don't remember what we were discussing, but one day, we were in heated discussion. my dad, mom, jimmy, me, and david. in our family, to be heard, you needed to speak out in a firm, strong voice (you needed to yell. but not in anger, cause you were gonna get a smack upside the head if you yelled in anger). in the heat of discussion, david suddenly yelled out,

"I NEVER GET ANY RESPECT AROUND HERE!!!!" with tears streaming down his face. apparently, he had said some things that we had completely ignored.

we looked at him, stunned.

then we all burst out laughing.

only further proving his point, and probably crushing his spirit along the way.

*****

during my 3rd yr, after a grueling week of studying for and taking a shelf exam (like a finals for a medical rotation), i went home for the wkend. i was exhausted, out-of-shape, and it was good to see dave and my parents. dave and i ended up staying up a little late (prob around 3am) talking and watching movies.

nice, i thought. it's good to decompress and just relax. and then i went to sleep.

the next morning, i was awakened at 8am by my dad. "get up! he said, "don't be lazy!" *crap* i thought. augh. please, a few minutes....

"get up!"

i realized that some extra sleep wasn't worth a fight during my wkend home, so i got up, headache and aching body and all. i guess i was making some noise in my irritable state, and my parents came running up to me.

"sHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" (extremely harsh whisper) DAVID IS SLEEPING."

get angry? not me. i started laughing. here i was, busting my butt (i ended up not doing that great on that particular shelf anyway), coming home to relax, and i get tossed out of bed at 8am, while david, who has been chillin' at home, keeping his own hours, gets to sleep?!! AND I MIGHT DISTURB HIS PRECIOUS SLEEP, SO I SHOULD BE QUIET?!!?!

i only bring this up now, because it happened again this morning. no big exam this time, but i get lectured to wake up at 8am while david is unharassed and wakes up at 10, 11.

my, how the tables have turned... ;)



yakob at 11:24 AM

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