Life's too short...

A blog-friend recently posted about being on the “outs” with a friend, and not being sure what to do to fix it. “What do you do when two people are stubborn and both are sticking to what they believe to be true?” I responded with this comment, which I’ve decided to post here as a blog entry in its own right:

When I was around 10 years old, my best friend, Mike, and I used to bring comic books to each other’s house (Superman, Green Lantern, that sort of thing; we were DC Comics kids, not into the excessive superhero angst of the Marvel Comics heroes), and we would hang out together and read them, passing them back and forth and saying things like, “Oh, cool!”

One day, after a session of this chez moi, Mike made to leave with a recent issue of “Adventure Comics” that I was sure was mine. He was equally sure that it was his, and we argued about it for a while. Eventually, I snagged the magazine, and, as it was my house, managed to retain it while he went home. But the disagreement caused a rift and we nither saw nor spoke to each other, we who normally got together daily.

Our separation lasted an indeterminate length of time — I can’t recall, now, 40 years later, how long it might have been, but it was long. A week, perhaps. Maybe even as much as that, yes. Well, it seemed an eternity then.

And I missed him. It might seem odd, but reading comic books just wasn’t the same without Mike there to bounce things off of, you know? And so, one day, I picked up the disputed volume, went down the street, and knocked on his door. “May I speak with Mike, please,” I said to his mom, and I had to weather a brief stare-down before she told him I was at the door.

“Here,” I said. “I’m sorry. It’s yours.”

Mike took it, thanked me, and said he didn’t know whose it was, really, but he missed me. I told him I missed him too, and that it was stupid to fight about a comic book.

He nodded and invited me in, and we read about some superheroes. And it was fun again.

It’s sad, so sad
It’s a sad, sad situation
And it’s getting more and more absurd
It’s sad, so sad
Why can’t we talk it over
Oh it seems to me
That sorry seems to be the hardest word

—— Bernie Taupin