We don't always realize how some small thing we come upon in passing may influence us in the future - someone's expression, a scene from the distant past, a bit of a tune that comes back out of nowhere, a Yiddish phrase you haven't heard in more than 60 years, something apparently insignificant.
I think of The Little Engine That Could - "I think I can, I think I can." And -"Whenever I feel afraid, I strike a careless pose, and whistle a happy tune, and hope that no one knows - I'm afraid."
Suddenly this morning, I remembered, "Never give up ! Never give up ! Never give up - that ship ! " I'm sure I heard my Pop repeat it decades ago.
Thanks to the wonderful world of the WWW, I found the source, so long forgotten, but still as great as ever for a boost and a giggle.
Hiya folks. Ya say ya lost your job today? Ya say its 4 A.M. and your kids ain't home from school yet? Ya say your wife went out for a corned Beef sandwich last weekend - the corned beef sandwich came back but she didn't? Ya say your furniture is out all over the sidewalk cause ya can't pay the rent and ya got chapped lips and paper cuts and your feet's all Swollen up and blistered from pounding the pavement looking for work? Is that what's troubling ya fellow?
[REFRAIN] Well lift your head up high and take a walk in the sun with dignity and stick-to-it-ness and ya show the world, ya show the world where to get off. You'll never give up, never give up, never give up...that ship!
Hey there friend. Ya say your radiators never worked all winter and now that its summer they started up again and ya can't turn them off? Ya say your wife sent your light weight suits to the cleaners and that means you'll have to wear your itchy tweeds this morning when they say it'll hit 106 and ya gotta meet an important business man in an hour and your bridge just broke and ya pasted it together with bubble gum and ya hope it don't Fall apart while you're doing some fast talking to this man? And - and your shoelace just busted and ya opened a big cut on your cheek trying to Even out your sideburns and your daughter's going out with a convict and your wife just confessed she gave your last sixty dollars as a deposit on an air plane hanger? Is that what's troubling ya, friend?
[repeat REFRAIN]
Hey there, cousin. Ya say ya can't pull your car out of the mud and you're in the middle of nowhere and it's pouring rain and ya can't get the top back up and your paycheck's all blurred and your foot went right through the gas and your girl's screaming bloody murder she's scared of the dark and a stroke of lightning splits your motor in half and your suit's shrinking up fast and ya start up the windy road on foot and sixty yards barbed wire hits ya right smack in the puss and ya both fall down in the mud and then a wild animal comes over and runs away with your shoes and your car blows up suddenly and your windshield-wiper ends up in your mouth and ya can't move and the mud's rising up to your nostrils and you're sinking fast and ya don't hear your girl screaming anymore? Is that what's on your mind, cousin?
[repeat REFRAIN]
And now, this is the old philosopher saying, so long, folks.
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