Pope John Paul II was a very fine man, but he never had time to talk to me.
I never expected him to.
So my relation with the Pontiff was entirely impersonal.
What gets me is people who act like the Supreme Pontiff but who also expect me to have some sort of personal obligation to them.
To me, a “busy” person is, to the extent he is busy, a non-person to me in exactly the same way I am a non-person to him, as I am a non-person to the Pope.
I wish him well. He wishes me well. That’s all very well. Isn’t that, well, just very well?
Now that I am retired this is easy. If someone is preoccupied, that’s just fine. But don’t expect me to act like you are an emergency when you suddenly need Ole Bob.
I am out of the emergency business. Speak now or forever hold your peace.
#1 by joe rorke on 09/16/2005 - 1:32 pm
Absolutely beautiful, Bob! I have had this thought for years and never expressed it. Your piece reminds me of what the folks on television in the “news” business have been telling me for years. “We’re all family here,” they imply. “Why, you know me! I’m Peter Jennings or Dan Rather or Tom Brokoff or Hugn Downs or Barbara Walters or Mike Wallace or Ed Bradley. You know us! We’re family!” And I’ve always thought, “balls! I don’t know you and you don’t know me and you don’t give a rat’s ass about me so stop implying that you do!” I’m a nonperson to them, Bob. As far as I’m concerned that is the case and has always been the case. Thanks for this piece that you wrote that has cleared it up in my head what I was really thinking. If I’m a nonperson, they’re a nonperson too. Furthermore, I think the Pope ought to have talked to you. Why not? What are you, chopped liver? Better that you talk to him than I talk to him. The Pope? Too busy to talk to The Bobber? Doesn’t make any sense to me.
#2 by Peter on 09/16/2005 - 7:22 pm
Nonperson = freeman
#3 by Mark on 09/18/2005 - 11:40 pm
I have no idea why you wrote you what you did and it goes w/o saying that I personally have never asked you to do anything, but it seems to me that it wasn’t too many blogs ago that you were imploring your readers to use you for the cause. Put you in to play cause ol’ Bob aint gonna’ be ’round forever. Now you say you haven’t got time for someone who says they need your help. Unless I’m missing something here, it sounds an awful lot like you’ve learned to talk out of both sides of your mouth.
#4 by Bob on 09/19/2005 - 11:30 am
Mark, please remind me what you need my help for.