Don’t be Afraid… Bruce.

I have been thinking about life and living a lot these days. I lived a long time in fear. Fear of the probabilities. Fear of the possibilities. Usually, it was in regards to associating with people and socializing in general. I suppose a lot had to do with my own self image which I always assumed was inferior. Not to mention I did not have much chance to socialize while growing up because most places I lived were devoid of kids I knew and in some cases devoid of kids altogether. If I did make a friend is was usually for only a short period of time. Not enough time to develop interpersonal skills. Concurrently, I wasn’t the popular kid and found myself on the wrong end bullies quite often. * * The bullying stopped by the time I got to high school. I still was unpopular but at least nobody bullied me though I was sure it would happen without warning. Quite mysteriously though, for the whole four years of school while I was cruising through the halls between classes every now and then, out of throng of people this voice would pass very close to me and say “howdy doodie” and when I looked I never saw anyone who acted as if they said it. I wasn’t so much embarrassed by it rather fascinated at who and why and their dedication to saying it every time we passed in the hall.