May I have your attention please?
May I Have Your Attention, Please?
by Sal Moriarty
The loudest duck gets shot. Chinese Proverb
Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt. Mark Twain (one of my dad's favorite lines)
Americans want attention these days. Perhaps it has always been the case, but not to the degree we see it now.
Seems to me, most don't care what kind of attention they get, as long as they get it; no such thing as bad publicity type deal.
Few weeks back, I was watching my favorite college football team, the Texas Longhorns, getting their tails whooped by Georgia. A call went against the Horns and miscreants in burnt orange began heaving garbage on to the field. There were probably twenty state of the art cameras there to record it all. I didn't see any of the morons trying to hide their faces. They seemed quite pleased by the attention.
Daily, I see people wearing political shirts, free ads for professional liars. It's easy to guess the liar of choice in southeast Texas but, I assure you, it's different in Berkeley (and, frankly, Atlanta and Austin). Why would anyone in their right mind want to be associated with politicians? That is unflattering scrutiny of the highest order, yet many seem to crave it.
The desire to call attention to oneself is fraught with headaches and, often, a tell-tale sign of low self-esteem. That said, sometimes even when minding your own business, it comes your way. Never good.
I've lived in four states. When you move, it takes a while to get your license plates changed. The first time you take someone's parking spot, or cut off a car on the road, you hear, “Go back to where you came from!”
It's confusing as I come from America. That, friends, is attention I don't need.
About two years ago, while at work, someone broke the back glass of my truck. Talking to the cop later, he explained there were grab-and-go thieves working the area.
I caught a break because the window tinting held the glass together and the criminals moved on. The officer said I was fortunate there was nothing on my back glass that attracted attention. He said a guy was not so lucky a few days earlier when the same thing happened to his truck at Hooters. That guy's back glass displayed a big sticker of a gun; you know, the one preferred by the nuts who shoot up schools and churches.
Under the picture of the gun were the words “Come and Take It!”
“And they did,” the cop said, chuckling. “They did.”
Poor devil wanted attention. Well, he got it.
