Does pride really go before a fall? Many years ago my wife left town with her mother and the remaining minor siblings were parceled out to their adult sisters or in P’s case his brother in law. Now P was a 14 year old and full of himself. In fact I would say more hopeful for himself than prideful. Unlike his brother in law Grayquill who has struggled to be humble most of his adult life.
Now Grayquill at times thinks he has made much progress in his quest for humility. He would even say of himself that at times he gets extremely proud in how humble he has become. They say some of the most prideful people are those who will talk about themselves in the third person. Now I am pretty sure Grayquill would never admit to doing such a thing.
Grayquill upon having young P as a houseguest and listening to the boy’s big talk realized P was developing quite a fetish for gambling. If Grayquill had been a little wiser he may have thought the young boy was exaggerating his stories of easy money to impress his older brother in law. I mean teenagers don’t really exaggerate their stories do they?
So, as the stories rolled out of the adolescent and his winnings. The more mature humble Grayquill decided he would teach the boy the errors of his gambling ways. Now, P for all his big talk of massive winnings surprisingly only had a measly $1.25 in his pocket. Whereas Grayquill had a large change jar which P had seen and commented on more than once. Grayquill decided a good lesson would be to strip the boy of his little bankroll in a game of skill in pitching pennies, so that he could cure the boy of his gambling ways. The game began right there on the kitchen floor. Now being humble doesn’t always travel with wisdom. But, regardless Grayquill started out just as he intended winning little by little until poor P was down to his last nickel.
Have you ever been reeled in like an old fish? The ante had been upped to a nickel and one more good pitch was all Grayquill needed to bankrupt the proud whelp. Sadly, Grayquill lost and he lost again and again. P would let Grayquill run at the end of that hook just far enough to keep him pitching and hopeful he could recover his money and his pride. Before the evening ended and Grayquill came to his senses P’s pockets were bulging and Grayquill’s change jar near empty. P laughed and laughed and Grayquill decided it would just be better to go straight to bed and leave the arrogant hoodlum alone to count his winnings.
Now not all was lost, years have passed since that fateful night Grayquill has not attempted to straighten out any more wayward gamblers and P’s mother never once again left P alone with the brother in law. She has although on more than one occasion given a tongue lashing to Grayquill which he would say carried a pain he tries to not have repeated. Grayquill has learned it is best to not get trapped in a room alone with said mother in law unless there is a clear way of escape. D’OH
20 comments:
"He would even say of himself that at times he gets extremely proud in how humble he has become."
Talk about contradictions! LOL! This had me in splits :D
Very very funny and I guess the oh-so-humble Grayquill is still just as humble ;)
PS: I'm still sticking to the proper English resolution ;)
PPS: Following you :D:D \o/
My dad tried to teach me a lesson about gambling too. He always had a pocketful of change and taught me how to play poker
I usually ended up with his pocketful of change.
But, I wish I had paid attention because I really like to gamble now and end up on the short end of the stick usually.
It's heart warming how your humility comes out in such a proud way. And how you never talk of yourself in the 3rd person
I admire that and I'm proud to say so :)
P sure is smart. But then all good gambles are smart and very good actors. I liked the way he drew into the game! :p
CHOCO: Mother in law came from mother in laws mother and wife's grandmother and P’s grandmother. Wife came from mother in law, and P came from mother in law. Hmmm...OH! I can't forget Grayquill he came from Filer (long i)
Now what is it about small creatures that cause Choco to change into a lioness? Lionesses eat small and big animals don't they? This love of small creatures is curious to me, where does that come from?
Do you visit pet shelters just for fun? Is your favorite past time brushing your kitty? Oh!!! Does nasty kitty kill poor defenseless creatures? You know - the cute ones like mice. Is Choco beginning to not like kitty? I know, to many questions!!
Your last bog shows tenacity. Petty impressive! The ability to answer many questions. And, even with all your talk about what I deserve, you are gracious to stop by. Thanks.
BLUNT EDGES: I am so pleased my humility is shinning through. Thank you for the complete words – you have no idea how good that makes me feel. I so enjoy reading all the words. BTW Grayquiill is quite humble he will be the first to tell you.
What the heck is \o/
MA FAT WOMAN: Thank you for stopping by – sorry about the short end of the stick. What is your favorite game?
DIANNE: Thank you so much for acknowledging Grayquill's humility. He was feeling so lonely. And then along comes a kindred spirit, lifted him right up, life is great some days. Grayquill says Hi!
Silverline: Hey! I am still a little grumpy about it - especially when I didn't even see it coming. What do they call that? Oh yeah a mark. D'OH!
Thank you so much for stopping by TNS.
You are very funny yourself and I will try catching up on your back posts.
Hope P found useful work but then when you think about it, we all loved Maverick who was a professional gambler and it does sound like P is good at it.
Is that true about third person? I guess Patti needs to stop that.
Arkansas Patti - We all did love Maverick didn't we. The third person thing hmmm...not sure, could of made it up. Grayquill would do such a thing...of course I would never do that.
Your blog is a delight - humor laced with wisdom that only comes with living. Expect me to see me. Thanks for stopping by I know it was a long walk but you made great time.
I am with Choco, you should compile all of your stories and publish a book! It would be a best seller, not that one so humble would receive any satisfaction from that, but we all would! Love this story! Poor, poor Grayquill his "humbleness" had me rolling!
~Michele
Life is full of contradictions.It couldn't have gone worse than this.Loved your narration and humor.
Michele: Thank you for the nice nice words. Book...that's a good one. You better be careful what you say. When you said book, Mrs. K my creative writing teacher from high school started laughing so hard she almost went over the edge and fell right out of heaven. Lucky for her St. Peter grabbed her just in time.
aahang: Your new to my humble blog! Yahoo! Sound the alarms, raise the flag... it's a banner day. Seriously, thank you for stopping and commenting. It is so appreciated!!! I hope to see you again.
Regards...
Grayquill, I really agree with Michelle. I want a book with your stories. I'd keep it myself, and I'd give it as a gift. Don't you know stuff about printing? Can't ya just write up a bunch of great stories, print it out real inexpensively, and let people order it off your blog?
Dang, I just want more stories. Sad ones, funny ones, religious ones. All of them. I never read a story twice till I this blog.
Holly Kay: I know bunches and bunches of stuff about printing. Infact a much more viable marketing scheme would be for me to turn this blog into an online store where wantabe authors could submit their books for printing. Now that has potential. I could print books as proofs or gifts for your friends, family, or just to have a printed book of your own laying on you coffee table to impress your friends when they drop by. Hmmm... lets see how about a good healthy profit margin. Send me your pdf file and I will only take a 50% cut and then send you back as many or few books as you want. This is the digital age, my email is in the upper left. Oh and I could ship within hmmm...how about 72 hours. Would that sell? Heck if you are willing to pay the shipping cost I could have your finished book(s) printed bound and on your door step by, say, next weekend. There you go. Send me you pdf file or Word doc.
Okay, all yoking aside...you are always the encourager and I don’t mean to make light of that. I very much appreciate your kind words and encouragement, you are turning into a good friend. Thanks.
LOL!
\o/ is me raising my hands. Its like a "yay" expression :D
Hilariuos :).
I guess, the best trick would have been to simulate something like Russian-Roulette to let him figure out the odds against him.
But if he sticks to cards and is good at it (he did deceive you :) ), then .....
BLUNT EDGES: So, let me get this straight, 850,000 words are not enough for you. And, you speak how many languages? Now you need symbols? Why? Just tell me WHY!!!! And, don’t give me that it’s easier and I am lazy answer you so like to give. There is nothing lazy about learning or inventing some new symbol language. It’s hard enough to remember if I put socks on this morning or not…UGH!
BROWN PHANTOM: You are an interesting person, your writing is awesome and you are an engineer/mathematician – isn’t that like mixing oil and water? You are also a manager which indicates people – relationship strengths. What is your greatest strength? What have you been most successful at? I mean which side of the spectrum are you strongest in? And, which side gives you the biggest pizzazz - rush?
Thank you for stopping by this is great! I hope to see you again – Regards.
@Grayquill,
nice blog I must say... and I think your mother in law is right to be mad at you, though I can bet my last penny that P is secretly waiting for another round ;).
Hashir Tufail: I am laughing "I can bet my penny..." that's a good one. I do know P loves the casinos. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the compliment - both are appreciated.
Choco: You got me there Choco - I did not eat the rat. But just so you know – It has been a very long time since I have been able to swat a fly successfully. I think I am really slow.
Hmmm...the mother nature thing. My answer is I guess because we can. Take the black bear - he is mostly a scavenger he will be a vegetarian or a meat eater, whatever is available. I think man is a lot the same. But, I get the choice thing. Man has other options in this day and age. I just really like meat – cooked meduim rare please.
Choco: I like to tease and banter with you but when that is all said and done. There is nothing wrong in wanting to stop needless pain in this world of way to much pain. I salute you!
My wife is fine with meat from the store but not from the field. It has been years since I have hunted. I am not saying I wouldn't do it again if the right opportunity arose.
Until next time.
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