I was a big proponent of believing you cannot compare your life to others. It's apples and oranges really. We all show up on Earth w/o any say on what genetics we get, who are parents are or even where on the globe we'll live. Add to that, you given a “hand” of cards you have to play as well as you can. Oh, and you'll have little control of forces outside your realm. Good luck!
Today, I was sitting across the desk of my attorney, D. I was redoing a will where I cut out various people who are no longer in my life and added a couple of others who are. Things change, especially since the last will was drawn up 18 years ago. I may do it again as life always morphs.
D and I go back to 1969. Well, he was my brother's best friend and being the kid brother, I saw him enough. He came from a lower middle class background but lucky for him, he was born handsome as the girls would note. Also, he had these absolutely killer social skills.
I've seen just two people in my life who had that skill. They both D and K, could walk into a room of people they do not know at all and withing 15 minutes, be the center of attention and well liked. How's that for putting your best foot forward. They were excellent readers of people as well and could adjust as needed. If you have that natural ability, you can get pretty far in life if you're smart about it. It's called the “Halo” effect, if people like you for a few given traits, they tend to think you're great at everything else too, even if you're not.
So, after we get done with the boring aspects of the will, he asks how I was doing since we hadn't seen each other in years. I had told him of my past year dealing with work, covid and the usual shit. He had told me he whittled his practice down to five cases. He was moving into something else.
**
I know there are “compassion clubs” in RI but I know little about them as I don't smoke. The stuff that's produced today would anesthetize a rhino and I can't keep up with that. Compassion clubs have to get their dope from somewhere and this is where D was telling me where he was going to come in.
He, along with a URI pharmacist professor, a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the RI State Police, a few lawyers and two doctors from Brown University and a few others with some bucks had all piled their assets to build a 23,000 square foot growing operation in Cranston.
“23,000 square feet?” I thought. “Holy Shit...that's a ton and half of marijuana plants. A literal jungle!”
By the way. This is all legal. They have all the licenses and the Secretary of the State of RI and Dept of Business have signed off on it.
He turns his laptop around to show me the “products” they'll make, They intend to grow the plants and use the machines they bought to extract the oils. With that, you can now do edibles and vape pens and...i don't know what...everything?
“Here's my favorite..Happy Juice!” he tells me. It's like those energy shots you buy at the Quickie Mart register. Another was called “2/10,” a similar product but it's the concentrated oil (2 drops equals 10mm) that you drip into your coffee, ice cream, shrimp diablo or what not.
I look over to the wall, then the floor and see a UPS box opened. It's packed with vape pens. The wall above it has his Juris Diplomas, licenses and awards the legal community has given him throughout the years. Odd juxtaposition.
“Ronnie, we see the trend, complete decriminalization is coming or close enough to it. I want to be ready when it does happen...production, packaging, distribution....there's a hell of a market out there for this!”
He goes on...”Remember when you, your brother and I had to sneak a joint in Slater park and watch for the Pawtucket police? Now look at the times! Everything's changed! Who could've foresaw this back then?”
I couldn't. I have no crystal ball...
As I heard all of this, I couldn't get this out of my mind...”23,000 square feet.”
**
I sat there sort of stunned. I didn't know this was possible. Once I saw the list of investors and who they were...and I'll leave that out for now...I was just like a mouse hypnotized by the stare of a snake about to strike.
So I drive home, with my new will and I think. “Holy shit...MY life isn't like what D is doing now. I never had the skills he had, nor the ability to charm juries into letting go obviously guilty people and being able to captivate those with the start up money for ventures like this. What advancement..what success!”
No, I was a workaday schlepp all my life. Office/corporate work didn't really ever attract me and I had a starting career in social services which notoriously pays squat. Add to that was his good looks and ability to get girl's panties to drop which forever infuriated my brother who couldn't do that. (I am five years younger than those two, so everything was five years later in my life). I once saw him fling a snowball, pretty hard, into the windshield of a pretty girl stopped at a stop sign where were all standing. He smiled at her through that melting snow on the window...and then she smiled back at him. That was his come on line, whipping a snow ball. He managed to have her pull over a bit and talk.
I'd be arrested for doing that!
Halfway home I told myself...”Stop it! Stop it! D and I had different upbringings, different genetics, different parents! Stop comparing yourself ot him!'”
Was I green with envy? Sure...till I shook myself out of it...eventually. I'm OK now....maybe I can get a job misting the “house” plants they'll grow?
Apples and Oranges....gotta remember that. We are all different and our arcs in life are so too.
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