Saturday, October 16, 2021

Max, Part 8 - Good touted as evil, and vice versa. Max didn't know the exact quote. Of course, he had read the New Testament, a few times, throughout his 20-some years.

Max had read alot of good non-fiction books.  He also enjoyed quality fiction as well, including classics.   That's how he and his sister were raised; when they were kids, their parents didn't have much extra money, for things, like movies and theme park tickets - or even premium tv channels - but every month, both he and sis could order a book or two from the scholastic book club.  One of the things the family did on their weekly family night was a visit to BookPlanet - where the family would shop for volumes and enjoy starting their selections over beverages and treats in the store's coffee shop.  On other family nights, they'd do other things.  Sometimes a meal at a nice restaurant; other times, various local attractions.  In short, both max and sis were blessed, and they knew it, to have been born to parents who actually enjoyed being a family.  Btw, both kids could give you, Dear Reader, an earfull of why their family situation was, sadly, not real common - both kids went to school, where classmates ... yeah.

Of course, BookPlanet had closed it's doors several years ago - couldn't compete with the on-line movie channels.  Yep, Dear Readers, while 500 years ago, the printing press made reading available to atleast the upper-middle class (in a time, where even kings were semi-literate, and so hired scribes), the 2030s was sort of the opposite.  

Max turned off his tablet.  For the last hour he had been searching e-Read for a good spy novel.  A good one, not the typical bare-chested-metro rubbish.  That sort of genre was everywhere.  Max figured it started way back, before his great grand parents' days - but he remembered when it began taking off.  As a boy, Max was into superheros - Superman, Spiderman, Captain Marvel (his folks had to replace the sofa, various tables and lamps) but their heroics became downplayed, in favor of ... weirdness.

But at least Max knew, it was okay - that he wasn't weird for not caring to purchase any of the selections he had spent the last hour browsing through.  "...good for evil...bitter for sweet..."  He'd been in the city last Tuesday; nearby, a street preacher had spoken those words.  Not that max paid the man any mind (so he thought, evidently) ; max's mind was focused on a ventilation issue.  Yep, funny how you hear something, and it seems to go in one ear, and out the other.  But not all of it - some stays.  And connects with things - things that should have been obvious, years ago.

You see, Dear Reader, our hvac hero had been experiencing some serious personal issues - the sort which this 4th rate blogger is attempting to articulate.  In short, Max is a man in his 20s - so, how does an old woman even begin to describe what a man, young or old, would think?  So, will ask the Lord to help me on this one.

Gives new meaning to "connecting the dots."

Max had to have been 12 or 13.  It had been a Saturday afternoon, when he was cutting the grass, while dad was either weed whacking, or some other sort of yard work.  Anyway, the mower quit.  Dad came over, looked at the mower, then cocked his head toward the truck.  Father and son headed over to YardWorld.  Anyway, with a new mower in back, they stopped at a mini-mart.  A car pulled up beside them, inside were three teenagers jamming to what is called music.  One got out and ran inside.  A musky smell was telling as to what the occupants had been doing.  Never mind, they looked kind of scrungy.  Anyway, to make a long story short, as dad pulled out and headed down the road, he turned to his son, and spoke a brief sentence.  

Max could not recall his Father's exact words, but suffice to say, dad said something along the lines that hanging out with "grunge heads leads nowhere."  Max could, recall, to this day, that afternoon, turning on to the highway, a turning point in his early adolescent life - Max wanted to keep on earning good grades, do things that mattered, on his journey ahead, going somewhere.

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