Familiar Heroes, part V of V

[Whatever]

 

Dammit now my fucking mascara is all over my face!!!

I think this one is my favorite.

[Richter]

:horrormittens:

Yeah, I feel bad for the attendants in that story.

Sgt Rock spends every day - in his head - reliving the one of the finest moments in history, one that he took part in, each time as if it were actually happening, fresh each time as if it had never happened before, over and over again.

The attendants change diapers and bedding for old people, every day, forever, never having the imagination to conceive of, let alone participate in, anything nearly as glorious.

Moral of the story:  Be careful who you feel sorry for.

Why pity them, though? Their choices brought them to that point.

Maybe.  Or maybe circumstances never put them in a position to rise to the occasion.  The WWII generation was tough as nails, having come through the depression, the dustbowl, and then the war...But had these things not occurred, they would have been every bit as complacent as the generations before and since.

Don't you think there are still some pretty tough people out there? I do. Unfortunately the paper hangers have decided to give them bad labels.

Sure there are.  But with the exceptions of the kids overseas - a much smaller percentage of the population - there hasn't been any fire to temper them.  Just assurances that the government is "keeping them safe".

Safety is the enemy.  It makes humans indolent.  I'm not advocating war, of course, but I am advocating allowing a little more risk into peoples' lives.  They've outlawed DODGEBALL in schools, for fuck's sake.

THIS.  Fucking THIS.

Yes, it will be horrible, people will be hurt in mind and body, but we'll get better people out of it, and the kids will have more fun.

Great ending to the series too, and a fitting bit to add to the Mythos of Sgt. Rock.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Dammit now my fucking mascara is all over my face!!!

I think this one is my favorite.

I was all choked up writing it, to be honest...Both from childhood memories of Sgt Rock (it's hard to explain to anyone under 35 or so what an icon that character was), and because it made me think of my father's father, and of my great uncles on my mother's side, who went through all that.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Yet another one with serious sting, Roger. Good work.

Don't you think there are still some pretty tough people out there? I do. Unfortunately the paper hangers have decided to give them bad labels.

Sure there are.  But with the exceptions of the kids overseas - a much smaller percentage of the population - there hasn't been any fire to temper them.  Just assurances that the government is "keeping them safe".

Safety is the enemy.  It makes humans indolent.  I'm not advocating war, of course, but I am advocating allowing a little more risk into peoples' lives.  They've outlawed DODGEBALL in schools, for fuck's sake.

Jesus Christ, I fucking remember that.  The last time I got to play dodgeball, real dodgeball with the proper red rubber balls, was the fourth grade. Mr. Vincent, my third-grade teacher who is at least partly responsible for my love of science to this day, was always one of the funniest, liveliest teachers I can remember, and he always played with the kids and made sure no one got really hurt. There's probably a lot more to his story, but I distinctly remember him being much less happy and cheerful after they banned dodgeball. Wouldn't even nod and smile at me in the hallways anymore after a while.

Of course, it might also have something to do with canning recess. No one past third grade gets recess anymore, I don't think.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Great ending to the series too, and a fitting bit to add to the Mythos of Sgt. Rock.

Thanks, Richter.  That was my aim, but I didn't know if I could pull it off.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Of course, it might also have something to do with canning recess. No one past third grade gets recess anymore, I don't think.

Recess isn't productive.  It teaches kids that you set some time aside for fun, and that just won't do.

[Jasper]

This one really speaks to the part of me that calls itself Discordian because people need strife to become better.  The Greatest generation wasn't great because things were going great back then.  They were great because of great upheaval.  

[The Good Reverend Roger]

This one really speaks to the part of me that calls itself Discordian because people need strife to become better.  The Greatest generation wasn't great because things were going great back then.  They were great because of great upheaval.  

Hence the scene with the lesser men talking about Sgt Rock in the old folks home.

[Jasper]

Am I to feel sorry for them?

I suppose I do.  Just not much.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Am I to feel sorry for them?

I suppose I do.  Just not much.

Look around you.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

6 months before 911 occurred, I had mentioned to my mother that my generation had a sort of inferiority complex.  Her parents' generation had won the war, and her generation had won the peace...Leaving my generation with no great challenges or obstacles.  Her generation went to the moon, for Chrissakes.

Then 911 happened.

And my generation folded up into a fetal position and whimpered.

[LMNO]

As an aside, and speaking as a kid who both got picked last and also got the snot beaten out of him whenever we were forced to play dogeball, fuck that shit.

Fucking assholes, every last one of those socially-approved bullies who tortured the arbitrary outcasts with their webs of shame, ridicule and violence.  All in the name of "fun", of course.





LMNO
-never got over that one, apparently.

[Whatever]

Dammit now my fucking mascara is all over my face!!!

I think this one is my favorite.

I was all choked up writing it, to be honest...Both from childhood memories of Sgt Rock (it's hard to explain to anyone under 35 or so what an icon that character was), and because it made me think of my father's father, and of my great uncles on my mother's side, who went through all that.

Exactly, I kept thinking of my grandfather, he was always so larger than life to me, one of my personal heroes.

Thanks for writing this.  As somebody who does remember, I can tell you honestly, this whole series is spectacular, but this piece, pure gold!!!

[Adios]

As an aside, and speaking as a kid who both got picked last and also got the snot beaten out of him whenever we were forced to play dogeball, fuck that shit.

Fucking assholes, every last one of those socially-approved bullies who tortured the arbitrary outcasts with their webs of shame, ridicule and violence.  All in the name of "fun", of course.





LMNO
-never got over that one, apparently.

Quitcherwhining. Pussy.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I was frequently picked last (I was a SKINNY kid, and completely uncoordinated), but I loved dodgeball.  I didn't care if I occasionally got PEGGED (you remember that), or if I got laughed at once in a while.  I loved the game.  It was far better than getting sneered at, as I missed one free throw after another when it was basketball time.

Also

forced to play dogeball,

Is dogeball where you throw Italian aristocrats at each other?