Tales Of The Commentator

Years ago my cousin (may he rest in peace) invited me to supper with some people. I was reluctant but it was in Little Italy in one of the, at the time, best Italian restaurants and since we were in the habit of frequenting a cafe nearby before hitting town, I went along.

His friend was (still is) a cinema mogul who owned several mega-theaters in town. A business his father started years before.

I sat quietly listening, and observing the conversation around me. Actually, it was one-way in the manner of an inflated ego dictating the content of our discussion in a  paternalistic tone.

After a while, he discovered I was in banking and graciously acknowledged my presence and asked me a financial question.

Well, financial if you sufficiently stretched the term.

It basically amounted to money laundering. I laughed my ass off inside. Me? Moi? A lowly bank teller at a trust company cleaning cash? It was to laugh. I could barely balance my wicket at the end of the day I was so flippant.

He asked me if I could do it. I don't remember the context or if he really meant it but I told him I don't think my manager would have been receptive to the idea. He responded with a curt, "then you're no good to me."

Nice.

I wanted to tell the guy, "hey, why all this arrogance? Because you're a millionaire and own a few cinemas? It's not like you started the business...at some point you'd figure that would count for some humility."

As if that wasn't enough,  it became clear I wasn't going to have risotto as dorkboy spoke on our behalf. "Bring some this and bring some that." For us, you know, commoners. He continued, "...and for me...."

Nice.

Paternalistic and tyrannical. Just like how I like 'em.

My cousin observed my irritation as I complained under my breath "I don't like calamari" to which he replied, "he's paying."

So why am I telling such a horrible tale?

Last night, as I ate supper, I watched my rather precocious six year-old daughter waste my wife in Monopoly Jr. She was taking to creating a monopoly quite well. As I chanted, "you go girl" I saw a little Mr. Burns before my eyes. It teared me up.

Despite her dominance, she managed to keep her sense of humanity and even displayed humility.  She said, "It's ok, mommy. I'll give you money. We'll share everything."

Wow. Uncoerced socialism. Now that's cool!

Anyway. I was impressed by how she behaved. She's a good kid. Somehow, it brought me back to the story I told earlier.

I guess the moral of this post is, be careful how you conduct yourself. You just might stick in someone's memory for the wrong reasons. And always, always, always be gracious in victory and defeat. Always.