Conversation About HBO

There’s this new show coming out on HBO, have we talked about it?

No

God, I can’t remember what it’s about but the idea is one of those ‘of course, this will make a great television show why didn't I think about it!’ and now I can’t remember what it’s about. I want to say about a high school kid and the crap you go through in high school. I can’t even remember why I can’t remember it. It's good though. Maybe I dreamed it.

Either way it sounds good. I’m looking forward to it.

Me too. Damn it, what is it about? You haven’t seen any previews have you?

No.

Well, let me know if you do….when you see it you’ll know.

Ok. You heard John From Cincinnati was canceled.

NO!

* * *

Privately I thought no show about high school and all the tribulations one faces is something I want to watch. I hope my co-worker dreamed the thing up. I went though it myself after all…to watch this show and laugh about those crazy times would not be a truthful thing to do. I don’t look back fondly on those times. I wasn’t necessarily one of those picked on or marginalized by the student body, nor was I the successful athlete who everyone knew and admired. I occupied a hazy space in between the two extremes….the slightly below average athlete clique. No band. No thespian club. No future business leaders of America. Not a pot smoker. Not a skateboarder. Just a poor athlete. Small, underdeveloped, young for my grade.
Though I had no inclination to participate in the school plays I secretly admired the thespians who seemed to walk and sing loudly and laugh and move carefree down the hallways in between classes. Completely uninhibited. Maybe only the good thespians behaved this way, the confident ones like the star athletes. But I doubt it. I don’t think the talented actors preyed on the weaker ones like the kids in sports did. Who knows? Years later I heard a handful of these thespians chose to become gay.

Anyway, I remember one occasion when I was the butt of the joke, the picked on kid. I wore a button down brown short sleeve shirt that my mom got from who knows where. Stitched on the pocket was the word ‘Excellent’. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the brand of shirt, maybe it wasn’t. A handful of kids during the lunch hour noticed my shirt and took me to task. ‘Hey Flimsy, you sure look Excellent today.’ ‘Excellent shirt Flimsy’
This got big laughs. Then somehow the word ‘Excellent’ took on a different pronunciation and a special voice was applied to it when said. It’s hard to describe…but it sounded like a Hispanic who didn’t pronounce the last two letters nt. Excella….
Are you excella today Flimsy? Great. This lasted about 20 minutes. Here I am 17 years later recalling it. Why? Also, I never wore that shirt again. One of the kids who joked that day was recently arrested for a domestic dispute I heard.

A good show for HBO would be about a bully who grows up and his kids end up being the ones getting picked on in school. It is only then he learns the error of his ways. But what happens after he learns his lesson? Maybe he becomes an inspirational speaker that takes him on the road 300 days out of the year. Another ironic thing is that he misses his kids growing up because he’s on the road so much. When the last one graduates from high school it is only then he learns the error of his career choice. At that point he decides he can still be the father his kids never had by becoming a janitor at their school, the University of Nebraska Omaha. Don’t think of me as your dad, I’m just the janitor at your school. At first this unnerves his 3 kids but eventually they start treating him like shit just like every other student at the university. They discard half drank chocolate milk shakes at his feet right after he’s finished sweeping and waxing a long hallway. The kids walk away laughing then a single tear falls down the janitor’s face. It is only then the man realizes his kids have finally accepted him as their janitor. Here’s the catch. He’s crying tears of joy. Completely unexpected, huh?