Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
What Makes Me Unique
About twenty years ago my wife and I went on vacation in the Caribbean – St. Thomas, I think. We were traveling on a budget. Our ‘resort’ had a tennis court covered in a few inches of mud, a dining room which had been closed for years because the roof had fallen in, we had cockroaches in our room, and I had to repair our toilet myself. But the swim-up bar was functional, so we were happy. It was cheap, so at that point in our lives, everything was fine from our perspective.
One afternoon, we saw a paper stapled to the bulletin board advertising ‘Calypso Night,’ with steel drums and rum drinks, right on the beach. Sounded fun, we thought. After all, neither of us had ever experienced a Calypso night. The Caribbean was such fun! So we went to the beach that night, and there was this chubby older black guy with a steel drum and a small boom box. He would play a tape of Caribbean music on his boom box, and accompany it on his steel drum. It sounded really good. And the more rum I drank, the better it sounded.
He left the case to his drum open, and we tourists would tip him from time to time. The more we drank, the better he sounded, the more we tipped. I had been working too much and I really needed to get away from medicine for a while. And for a few hours, I really felt like I was somewhere other than a hospital or a doctor’s office. It was exotic, new, and exciting. I had a wonderful time.
As I stood unsteadily at the bar, with my feet in the sand, I heard him playing a particularly great song. I turned to look, and found our steel drummer not at his drum, but right next to me at the bar, with a rum drink in his hand. The music sounded the same as before.
He gave me a big smile, clinked his plastic cup against mine, and cheerfully said, “Welcome to the Caribbean, mon!”
At first, I was a bit put off that my authentic Caribbean Calypso Night was not quite as authentic as I had initially been led to believe. And then, I was slightly more put off that my tips were buying this guy rum drinks, and that at this point, he had more money in his pocket than I did.
I felt misled.
But then, I looked down at the fake plastic lei around my neck, and then down at the plastic cup in my hand with a little umbrella in it, and I thought, “Eh, what the hell.”
I held up my plastic cup, returned his toast and his big smile, and said, “Thank you for your hospitality, mon!” With a Caribbean accent as fake as his drumming.
Because I had suddenly realized that for the locals, conning tourists out of money, and welcoming them to your Caribbean home, is sort of the same thing.
And I also realized that I was ok with that. I was having a great time, enjoying the beach, the rum, and the music, and for a few hours in my life, everything was ok.
Moments like that are rare and precious.
So after a brief moment of reflection, I no longer felt cheated. In fact, I was actually comforted by the fact that I had been deceived in exactly the way I had hoped to be, although I hadn’t seen it that way initially. But I realized that I was tired of medicine, and I just wanted to be a carefree Caribbean Calypso music fan. And for a few hours, I was exactly that.
Well, sort of.
But the details didn’t matter. I was happy to be there and felt that my money was well spent. I even bought the phony drummer’s next drink. At that point, why not, right?
I went to bed that night in a good mood, having enjoyed a very pleasant evening.
I’m trying to explain this odd phenomenon, but obviously struggling a bit. It’s hard to rationalize something as irrational as my satisfaction with having deceived myself. Or at least, my satisfaction with having actively participated in someone else deceiving me. Why would that make me happy? I guess I don’t know.
Eh, whatever. I give up. I can’t explain this to a rational being like yourself, dear reader. But it makes sense to me. And that’s good enough, I suppose.
I’ll just chalk that up to one of my odd little quirks, that makes me unique.
Why am I so odd? Why can’t I be like everybody else?
Well, it’s probably a good thing that everyone is not like me. That would make for a really strange world.
Imagine a society of people as irrational as me, who abandon reasoned debate, and instead actually praise their leaders for lying to them in a way that meets their emotional needs at the time? Ha! That’d be bonkers!
A society of fools such as that would be incapable of self-governance, and would rapidly slide into autocracy.
Thank heavens that others don’t share my quirks. So don’t ridicule me for my love of intentional self-deception. Just be glad that I’m the only one.
And for what it’s worth, I still love Calypso music…
Um, why is the Gretchen in that picture?
Great story by the way.
You have an unusual way of leading us in, Doc, but the journey was well worth it.
Somebody wrote a post comparing ‘happy’ to ‘wealthy’ and ‘smart’.
One of my favorites:
Livin’ the dream. Doc. Livin’ the dream.
So you are saying that I should drink more rum. I think that was the point.
When Biden drops out Kamala moves up and Gretchen takes the VP slot.
And here I was thinking about rum and steel drums. You had to scare me back to reality, didn’t you?
So what you’re saying, Doc, is that we’re doomed
So, I got this philosophy that life is mostly pain, so when you’re not in pain, have the awareness to stop, appreciate the moment and think, “well, this is pretty cool.”
If there’s a live or recorded calypso band playing in the background when things do not suck, all to the good.
O. M. G.
I prefer to imagine a three-way over that.
Those B’s give women a bad name.
I meant: When Bashful drops out Dopey moves up and Grumpy takes the VP slot.
Darned spell check.
When was that photo taken? There are zero masks in that photo.
Charley Baltimore: Life is pain. Get used to it.
I don’t think it was “taken.” I think it was fabricated. Like that Calypso music on the beach.
I never was a beach goer.
We have a local “joint” for vacationers such as yourself called Tommy Bahama’s. They serve overpriced and not very well prepared “tropical food” – fish tacos with mango salsa, etc. and strong top shelf Margaritas. We went there a few times because of “the atmosphere” – the tropical decor (think Bahama shutters, dark wood floors like a Hemingway cottage), large floral print wallpaper and…….a guy playing steel drums with a boom box in the corner. They have a gift shop with pricey Tommy clothes, jewelry and colognes that make you feel like you’re in the Bahamas instead of NW Florida.
You think the $80 lunch tab was worth it because of the atmosphere, a special, rare splurge, and boy, that chocolate bomb cake with the rum sauce…….wow. Until……the time I ordered these fish “planks” with these “spicy fries” that made me feel my mouth catch fire. Later that night, I was violently sick with what I think was food poisoning. Now your story about the Calypso drummer guy makes me glad we vowed to not go back……….(I didn’t throw money in his case)
PS It’s ok to stick one’s head in the sand on vacation, but not in everyday life (especially in a primary election year) – I get what you’re saying.
And to quote The Princess Bride yet again (after appearences in almost all of the Movie Fight Club episodes):
Ooh. I’ve been remiss. Let’s not forget A Knight’s Tale. Man, I love that movie. When it came out, I could watch it with all my kids of every age, with everyone enjoying it. Now, I can watch it with my lovely and talented wife, all my kids, and my grandkids and everyone enjoys it.
(@percival, don’t give me grief. I understand the absolute silliness of shucking the armor before the final tourney tilt.
Edit: swing and a whiff. This was supposed to go over on @vinceguerra‘s movie fight duels thread, but @thescarecrow threw me off (your judo is very strong) with the princess bride clip.
Eh. What’reyagonnado?
It’s a favorite of mine.
I thought Charlotte was referring to the Biden photo.
That’s the one.
Day Planner
Nov 4, 2020 – Check results. If necessary buy lots of rum, Calypso records, and tiny bamboo umbrellas.
So am I. It’s a fauxto, not a photo. Nobody’s wearing masks or physical distancing. Does that look like a real Biden rally to you?
One of my favorites; never gets old!