Here's the scene: A door-to-door peddler entices a gullible couple to buy a "24-piece set" of plastic storage containers by dangling a ridiculous boat (of all things) as an enticement.
Here. Watch.
The clip is from Napoleon Dynamite; it's one of those "Love it or hate it" movies. But, there's no mistaking the scene's slash at the vacuous values that manifest themselves in our culture. Especially when the needy bride points at the kitschy thing and breathes to her timid husband, "Ah'want that!"
Hold that thought for a moment.
Have a look at the pencil-sketch at the very top of this post. It's an A-4C Skyhawk that was shot down during a mission over North Vietnam on June 17, 1966. Her pilot, Paul Galanti, would become a POW for just shy of seven years.
Over the next few posts, we'll go back to that moment and the years of abuse that followed. We'll find out how Paul made it through the torture, the pain, the longing...and re-enter Civilization and continue to prosper.
But.
This story is more than just another POW story. It's a story of what every man wants.
Hold that thought for just one more moment.
True story: a buddy of mine was telling me about "the conversation" he had with his son regarding girls. Not about girls as objects but girls as companions. Friends. Spouses. His son was being tempted to choose unwisely based on base-desires and the self-inflicted humiliation that comes from being "lonely." Or horny. It doesn't matter. His son was aiming low and the dad knew the horror that could come of it.
"But da-ad. I want a girlfriend!" the young punk complained.
"No son. You don't want a girlfriend. You want..." and the father struggled to find the words that would describe the complicated, hard-fought and deep-seated wisdom that comes from a guy like...
...Paul Galanti.
Take one more look at the pencil sketch, ok? That A-4C Skyhawk will soon transform herself from graphite scratches to full-color perfection. We're going into North Vietnam with all the guns and gore but we're going to come out with something truly worth the declaration, "I want that."
It won't be easy, it won't be cheap.
But it will be worth it.
