Wimps

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6 May 2015

“Good morning, Chuck.”

“Hi, Dennis, just twenty-four hours until I’m on the operating table.”

“Are you worried about it?”

“No, but I’m frustrated trying to make arrangements with the hospital. They wanted to let me know when to come in by calling my cell phone. I said, ‘That’s no good. I can’t always hear my cell phone.” Anyway, wearing these gloves makes it awkward to even get it out of my pocket. I said, ‘Leave a message on my answering machine. I’ll check my messages regularly.’ They didn’t want to do that, but I told them, ‘That’s the only way to get in contact with me.’

“Did you see the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. It was billed as the fight of the century, but it was boring,  neither boxer had the guts to go in for a knockout punch. They just danced around each other. Mayweather won by a unanimous decision. He has 45 wins, leaving him four short of the record held by Rocky Marciano. There’s no comparison, Marciano had 43 knockouts in 49 fights.

“Athletes nowadays are such wimps. Hockey players will go to the bench because they hurt their pinky. Back in 1935, Charlie Conacher,  playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, scored four goals, with a broken wrist, against the Chicago Black Hawks.

“When Floyd Patterson went against Muhammad Ali he was suffering from a slipped disk in his back. He should have postponed the fight, but he kept quiet about the injury and went into the ring and lasted twelve rounds.

“Sonny Liston had a 17-month reign as heavyweight champion, but it ended when he fought the relatively unknown Cassius Clay. Liston, who was viewed as nearly invincible before the fight, was unable to answer the bell for the seventh round, and Clay (soon to take the name Muhammad Ali) was named champion on February 25, 1964. Liston, who was a known drug addict, had barely been grazed by Clay’s right fist, the boxer went down just one minute and 45 seconds into the first round. It was obvious that the fight had been fixed.”

I said, “Take care, Chuck, I have to go.”

“Bye.”

…

Sitting in an abandoned shop doorway sat a man holding a sign that read TRYING TO GET HOME TO P.E.I.  (Prince Edward Island). It was hot, I asked the man if he minded if I sat for a while. He said, “No, by all means, have a seat. I came here with friends to attend a funeral and they left me stranded. I’ve never been in this position before, but people seem friendly. My bus ticket costs $112.00. I’ve been sitting here since 7:30 and I’ve done pretty well — I’ve collected $87.00, just $25.00 short of what I need. I’m sure I’ll be able to collect the rest before my bus leaves at $6.30.

“The police stopped by earlier. I asked them if there was anywhere I could sit with this sign and not get in trouble. They said as long as I wasn’t obstructing traffic, or harassing people in an aggressive manner, I could stay here.

“Back home I work in a restaurant. I do fruit displays, cutting animal shapes out of fruit. I’ll be so happy to get back. After this experience, I’ll never again pass a homeless person without helping them any way I can.”

Read more about my friends at http://ow.ly/Nc8k0

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