What Are Words For?

Cheers Bitches!!

Y’know?  Yesterday during the celebration of my 48th birthday, I learned a number of things.

First off, I learned that I am old. Secondly, I learned that I, in spite of myself, have a lot of friends, and tertiarily, I learned that 19 year old chicks don’t dig 48 year old men.

Ha…Kidding…I really don’t have a lot of friends, but anyhoo…

Being the international internet radio star that I am, several thousand people wished me a Happy Birthday on my Facebook page yesterday.

To the eighty percent of my Facebook friends that I don’t actually know, I gave a “like.”  To the twenty percent of my friends that I actually do know, I left a comment.

But…Here’s the thing penultimate (yeah, I love that word, so?) thing that happened yesterday.  I didn’t just grow older yesterday; I grew wiser, and more importantly, more humble.

Aside from the public displays of Facebook affection yesterday, which are great mind you, and I truly loved them, I had several phone calls and private messages that were a bit more profound.

My 18 year old son gave me a dose of his brillant sarcasm that sounded word for word like something I would have said if I was in position.

My brother Marty called me from his Austin, TX., hotel room  at 7 AM and wished me a Happy Birthday and he said, “It is always good to talk to you.”

For thirty minutes, I talked to my brother Vince who is experiencing a world of difficulties.  In spite of his difficulties, we laughed all the while, because as he says, “You can cry, or you can laugh;  And either way, it’s nice to laugh and talk to you, my brutha.”

I sent Schmoop an e-mail asking if I could have our last frozen pizza for lunch.  She didn’t answer, she ignored it.  She later claimed that it was a Yahoo mail problem.  I claimed shenanigans…Turned out…It was a Yahoo problem.  And we laughed.

Yesterday, I chatted on Facebook with a woman with whom I went to school, and I told her that she and I should have gotten married back in the day, but the timing never worked out.

Oddly enough IWS readers, are you sitting down?  She agreed, and the conversation continued over a variety of other topics.

A couple of years ago, I was told by a woman that that I am “iconic”, and like it or not, “your words matter to people.”

Two years ago, I shrugged that comment off and filed it under, comments from crazy people.  You see…

While I have always considered myself to be a good writer and when I put my mind to it and work at it, a damn good writer, I have never considered myself to be a person of any influence whatsoever.

And while Schmoop may say something to the effect that I am chronically charming and for whatever reason, people like to listen to me, I have always thought…Yeah…so?

But…Yesterday, I became the recipient of an attitudinal shift.

In addition to the aforementioned examples of people who hang on my words, I received a birthday wish that stated I was Bagwine, Ohio’s best in comic relief.  Ha…I never realized that the woman who sent that even read my FB comments, IWS posts, or my smart ass remarks.

Here’s the thing…In this nanosecond by nanosecond world of texts, Tweets, e-mails, and blog posts, I am going to pay closer attention to what I am “putting out there.”

Not because I care, but evidently some people do, and well, that’s really not all that bad, it’s a compliment, and I don’t want to betray that good will.

Cheers!!

Matt-Man
mattmaniws@ymail.com
@MattMan_IWS