This is one of those times when I think back to Hyman Roth's line in Godfather II. Because right now, I need to say to myself "This is the
So this morning, I woke up after working until midnight, went to Chick-Fil-A for a coffee, and went up to the SMU Law Library. Which was closed. So I sat in my car, drank some coffee, and promptly walked through the doors at 8:30am, when it opened. Then, I spend the next couple of hours reading Anderson on the Uniform Commercial Code. It was 10:45 when I came up for air. I figured I'd walk across the street back to Chick-Fil-A, get a refill (that's fine, right? It's only when you re-use the styrofoam cup the next day that you get in trouble, I think . . .). So I did that, and then--because I was in 2-hour parking--I moved my car up into the next parking spot to avoid getting a ticket. "Pretty clever," I thought to myself. More on this later.
So I keep reading Anderson, and when I come up for air again, it's 1:35pm. Egad. Still no breakfast/lunch. But I figure I'm close, so what the heck. I finish my research in Anderson: altogether, I made it through about three volumes in their near-entirety, and two in sections. And then I figure I might as well examine Hawkland's UCC, which is right there. As I'm researching, I'm marking down every page with relevant information that I'll want to copy later. And then I cart those seven volumes downstairs to the copier, where I spend about an hour and fifteen minutes copying. That was fun.
Remember that parking ticket that I artfully avoided? Well, the meter-maid had apparently come back with a vengeance, and nabbed me somewhere between 10:50am and 4:30 pm, when I emerged from the library.
My stomach is on a rampage, so--research complete (for now)--I head across to Goff's to get a bite. I outline on my legal pad as I eat. I go to get my car inspected (because I had a ticket for expired inspection) and, as I wait, continue to outline on my legal pad.
I make it back to the office at 5:45, and here I am. Writing my memorandum on why we might or might not be able to sue.
Cue Hyman Roth.
An appropriate commentary for the times. Of course, the question is not always as black and white, as Mr.Roth would have us assume. Yet, there seems to be an overly emotional response to the type of story you imparted above. My grandfather's generation is comprised of men, most of whom served in WWII, who did not cross the threshold of that type of thought nearly as often as ours seemingly does. I saw a cartoon recently that spoke to this "generational gap" directly. It told the story of a young man who happened upon an older gentleman enjoying a day at the beach. After talking for a few minutes, the young man began to tell of the stresses of present times and how much harder and more distracting technological advances had made his life. The old man listened silently, adn when the young man finished he paused for a long minute before responding, very simply, "why yes, we did not have all those things when I grew up, so we invented them." Becoming a Hyman Roth, obviously, is not the goal...having a viewpoint which pays less mind to ones current status of personal affliction, might well should be....
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