I am.
It was decided in the ‘70s when I noticed the title of a Firesign Theatre album: “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus”. It struck me, then and now, as funny plea to forgive myself and those around me.
The “Bus” is life, and the “Bozos” are us and everyone we know.
Bozo The Clown was a children’s book and television character from the 50's whose orange hair went sideways and up. Online, I’m told the term bozo commonly means “ignorant”.
Are you ignorant? Of course you are, we are all at times. And when I attach the word bozo to my ignorant moments, I’m tempted to laugh and shake them off.
I often take life too seriously. The theme of perfection is part of my family and faith. Irish Catholicism in my day included perfection, that we would be Christ-like. For many of us, that led to feelings of insecurity and, sometimes, shame. Note: If you’d like to go deeper, check out Dr. Brene Brown who is my favorite counsel on the topic.
For me, guilt and shame are a trap! Noticing my own flaws and pointing out others’ ignorant moments intensely serves only to further embarrass the perpetrator.
Our family of 14 (3 kids, 3 partners, 6 grands) is learning to find humor in each of our flaws.
Like her mother, Alice is a magnifying glass. She has an incredible, almost superhuman ability to see every speck of “flyshit in the pepper”. Any molehill can quickly become a mountain.
Me? The controlling, angry guy that I remember being my father? Oh, boy, he’s there inside me waiting to pounce on anyone who isn’t acting the way I expect them to act. Good luck with that!
The point? Lighten up.
This is life, the only one we have. How about abandoning perfection and perhaps even getting a good laugh out of yourself and others.
One of the women I admire most is my brother’s eldest daughter, Colleen. She has dedicated her life to the Dorothy Day Catholic Workers House in Washington, DC.
When Colleen was still in grad school, she sent me a gift. It is a decoupage on wood titled “Jesus Laughing”. That gift remains in my bookcase near my desk to always remind me:
We are all bozos on this bus.
Peace,
Tim McCarthy
“I can’t be everything to everyone. I kind of made peace with it years ago—that at this particular phase of my life, this is what I need and this is what I want. It’s also the reason why I’m very particular about who I spend my time with because I do believe that there are genuinely energy vampires and energy catalysts in humans.”
---Harley Finkelstein
Editor’s note: Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker were a trio that lasted only three years together (1966 to 1968) yet remain one of my favorite bands ever. Like Jimi Hendrix and The Doors, they were at the forefront of my early teenage garage band days. This particular song is unique for its African/jazz-rooted beat, bluesy words and Clapton taking lead singing duties over Bruce. Hope you enjoy.
Favorite lyrics:
“She’s a witch of trouble in electric blue
In her own mad mind, she’s in love with you.”
Editor’s Note: Because my parents went through the Great Depression, I thought I knew something about it. Yet in this book I learned that the stock market crash of October 30, 1929 was only the first of many. In fact, it took another 2.5 years (July, 1932) for the stock market to bottom out. And the “depression” was much more than the stock market since corporations wiped out by the crash caused massive employment and economic desperation for many families that lasted for over a decade. Sorkin’s historical perspective is unique since it mainly deals with the people and personalities, government, corporate and market makers specifically. Entirely, non-fiction, it reads like a novel. (my favorite kind of book!)
Excerpt: This, the closing paragraph, is amazing:
“The enduring lesson is not that booms can be prevented or busts can be fully averted. It is that we need to remember how easily we forget. The antidote to irrational exuberance is not regulation by itself, nor skepticism, but humility – the humility to know that no system is foolproof, no market fully rational and no generation exempt. The greater the heights of our certainty, the longer and harder we fall.”
I read about, listen to, and watch sports programming with rabid interest. As a result, I have dozens of actual quotes from coaches I consider truly funny. Here are two of my favorites.
The Big Ten coach responding to a reporter’s question about his installing a very complicated offense, “Well, I figure if we don’t know what we’re doing, how is the defense going to figure us out?”
Another coach responding to reporter’s question, “Do you think there is widespread corruption in college football”? “No,” said the coach, “I think 95% of all college programs are clean…the other 5% make up the Top 20”.