jaytan

Today was a nutkicker in the truest sense. Several bad things went down today, but I'll get over them. This is the sad part that deserves comment -

Sometime Monday night, Oct. 10, 2005, an old man named Eugene died. He wasn't survived by many, just his niece, who apparently didn't want much to do with him during his last few months (and for that matter, I think a few years prior to that) and those of us who knew him from the local cafe he frequented. Honestly, I'm not going to do much justice in his memory, because I didn't even know his last name, and friendly as I tried to be when I saw him, I got the vibe that he wasn't a big fan of mine, and off that, I generally put him on the Not Worth It list.

Here's the thing -- he largely rubbed everybody the wrong way. He was a crotchety, bitter old man who had no problem admitting that he was just waiting to die. He did have a few of the ragtag bunch of Usual Suspects from the cafe looking out for him, including one friend whom Eugene designated as executor of his will, so he will be survived by a few who saw the good in him and understood his anger, but quite honestly, if it weren't for them, he'd have died with nobody.

Given this, I figure its worth it to at least put him in a few of your heads, such that he'll survive, even if only for a few fleeting moments, farther out and longer than he could have anticipated.

And I don't mean to trashtalk him in any way. None of his negativity is anything that he wouldn't acknowledge. In fact, I'm probably not that far off from dubbing him "The Original Grumpy Old Man." He was rude, judgemental, and cynical. Towards the end, to the few he confided in, he openly talked about wanting to just get it over with and die.

I remember one time when a friend was telling a story about how he'd been slighted by a woman he was possibly going to work for. Eugene caught just the last part of the story, so to get a recap, he asked "that cunt did what?!"

Of course, my first reaction was to pick up my jaw off the ground, but then, I started to think twice about his reaction. I realized that this was probably his way of showing loyalty to our friend. After all He was reliant on quite a few of the cafe characters, and he definitely was appreciative for their help (and expressive about it). I never actually saw him be mean or vindictive, so the conclution I came to, which a few verified as a good analysis of him, is that he was just too old and tired from too many of life's breakdowns to turn the happy cheek of life. I presume that he had happier times, but things just didn't work out well for him in the end. In that respect, I know that there was good in him, and thus, I figure Eugene may have some detention waiting for him up there, but I'm sure God'll let him into Heaven afterwards.

The only other thing I know about his life is that he was a journalist here in LA decades ago, and apparently he covered the local entertainment scene. As my friends were going through his old phone books and calling people, they stumbled upon phone numbers for Donald Sutherland and Francis Ford Coppola, among others. Of course, these numbers were disconnected, probably long ago.

Here's to you, Eugene. Sorry things weren't bigger on your exit, but they're bigger than you ever knew, and hopefully, they're better whereever you are.