Downbeat Daddies
The gang at Downbeat Records was very close. The managers acted like parents to the staff of younger employees. The managers were convinced that their worldly wisdom should be passed on from their generation to ours. This seemed like a good idea at the time. So many different folks would come in every day to seek the advice of the triumvirate of managers, Merle, Dick, and Ted, so it made sense that the staff be trained to espouse these words of wisdom, too.
When I was 16, I was convinced I wanted to join the military to learn engineering of some sort and earn enough money to pay for college afterwards. I shared this idea with Merle. He immediately sat me down and told me this was not a good plan. People with no options go into military service. I had options. Whatever I thought. Merle told Dick who told Ted who told every other Tom, Jackhole, and Harry there about my idea. Individually and collectively they told me I was wrong and to change my plan. I guess the term is harass. Yes, I was harassed. They thought it was a fun exercise to break the will of a 16 year old.
Long story short, I didn't go into the military. Their little exercise was a success.
They wanted to try it again. What else could they pick on? Ah, Catholicism. They wanted to convince me about the evils of Catholicism. They followed the same tactics. They talked to me in groups and individually to share the evils of Catholicism. Mind you, I had gone to Catholic school for 11 years. Eventually, they gave up because I was not having it. Could it be I wasn't as easy a mark as they had hoped? Could it be that I wasn't the empty vessel they could fill with their 60s-era ideals and rhetoric? Yeah, no.
I eventually was spared the cross hairs and they started imposing their will on the other staff. Loni was a favorite target of Merle's. Like I said before, he really tried to be her daddy. Their talks would end with Loni in tears, cursing Merle, cursing herself, and cursing life. Why do people need that kind of control over others? I speculate because they have no control themselves. I mean, Merle's girlfriend was married to one of his best friends. Talk about no control. He was sitting in the backseat with a blindfold on. He had no idea what his life was about so he tried to shape mine and my friends.
When I was 16, I was convinced I wanted to join the military to learn engineering of some sort and earn enough money to pay for college afterwards. I shared this idea with Merle. He immediately sat me down and told me this was not a good plan. People with no options go into military service. I had options. Whatever I thought. Merle told Dick who told Ted who told every other Tom, Jackhole, and Harry there about my idea. Individually and collectively they told me I was wrong and to change my plan. I guess the term is harass. Yes, I was harassed. They thought it was a fun exercise to break the will of a 16 year old.
Long story short, I didn't go into the military. Their little exercise was a success.
They wanted to try it again. What else could they pick on? Ah, Catholicism. They wanted to convince me about the evils of Catholicism. They followed the same tactics. They talked to me in groups and individually to share the evils of Catholicism. Mind you, I had gone to Catholic school for 11 years. Eventually, they gave up because I was not having it. Could it be I wasn't as easy a mark as they had hoped? Could it be that I wasn't the empty vessel they could fill with their 60s-era ideals and rhetoric? Yeah, no.
I eventually was spared the cross hairs and they started imposing their will on the other staff. Loni was a favorite target of Merle's. Like I said before, he really tried to be her daddy. Their talks would end with Loni in tears, cursing Merle, cursing herself, and cursing life. Why do people need that kind of control over others? I speculate because they have no control themselves. I mean, Merle's girlfriend was married to one of his best friends. Talk about no control. He was sitting in the backseat with a blindfold on. He had no idea what his life was about so he tried to shape mine and my friends.
posted by Cee in SF at 8:57 AM
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