Gluttony

Did you know that a fish will eat itself to death?
It's scary to consider that we might do the same.
I once drank diet green tea by the half gallon because I liked the way it tasted and figured, well, it has no sugar in it, it tastes good, has health benefits, what could go wrong?
But, soon I found out that, it's not the sugar that is gonna kill ya. It's the glut.

     Sammy died in 2017 after being diagnosed with end stage renal failure in Memphis, TN. The reasons were never quite solid. Some said he consumed too much MSG. Linda died in 2012 on a hospital bed in Sacramento. Some said it was because of all of the high-fructose corn syrup.
     Jimmy said goodbye to his mom in 2015 at the bedside of a Hospice house in Houston. He swore it was because she drank too much diet coke.

     Life is hard.
     It's meant to be hard. If you want to know what real life is then, try telling your three year old she can't have another hershey's kiss. Try telling your son that he's spending too much time in front of electronic devices.
     You'll be met with tears. You'll be met with all kinds of resistance.
     But, without resistance. Let's face it. We'd fuck ourselves. Literally.
 
     Jenny drove for a mental health facility in Pinellas county. She didn't mind the job. You put your twelve hours in and go home, just like anywhere else, she said. Jenny usually does about two hundred miles per day, transporting mental patients from one hospital to the next.
     She rolls her eyes when she sees Kevin's name on the patient ticket. Head cases are not all bad, most, if not all, are just playing the system for three hots and a cot. Kevin is the worst of them.

     She'll pick him up in intake, get chaperoned to the back of the van, where she'll shut him in behind three inches of plexiglass. They'll close the door and the chaperone will watch her drive away with Kevin toward his next destination.
     Three miles into the journey, Kevin will start Jacking off. It disgusts her. But, what is she supposed to do?
     Yeah, there are cameras in the van (Kevin doesn't care) but, what is she supposed to do? Pull over for the fifth time, turn on the little orange strobe light on top of the vehicle and call the police, where she'll wait for them to show up and argue with them until they take him away to jail for another day or so, where he will start the whole charade again? Then, she has to go to court if he fights the accusation, which he won't, but if he does, she has to go. Either way, she'll see him and his penis again next month.
     No. She just ignores him back there. He's not hurting anyone, pulling his pud. Just let him get his rocks off and hit the sack at the next way point. The worst part is, the inside cameras are only good for recording her totally losing it while she drives solo to the next pick-up.
     This year, the footage of her picking her nose and checking out the nice asses of the guys along ocean boulevard are going to be the premier at the company Christmas party.
 
     Kevin has had no resistance. He'd been taken care of his whole life, until mommy cut the cord. That's when his problems started; rather, that's when our problems started with him.
 

Resistance is futile, says Picard. But, I think not.

     Without resistance you'll grow really strong roots, like Kevin. That's why onions, carrots, and potatoes do so well in sand. They dig their fingers into soft soil. Yeah, they are good root veggies. But, they live in the dirt!
      If you give a baby everything it wants it will be all roots! But, sucker a tomato plant and it grows full and strong. You need to discipline the thing, but gently. Get it growing in the right direction.
The same goes for self-discipline. You can't just funnel down diet green tea because it's sugar free. It's the taste you're after. Do yourself some good and admit that nothing is worth trying unless it's hard.
     Drink water.
     Diets are hard. Life is hard.
 
     A morning glory will climb a gutter, and split the cement between bricks in an effort to reach the top.
 
     You wanna be a jerk-off like Kevin? Go ahead, give yourself everything you ask for.
     You wanna reach the top? Be thankful to those who nourish you, but don't sink your fingers in because their soil is soft; it's quicksand. Always accept less than is offered.
 
     That's how you bloom.

-Jay M Horne


Jay Horne is an author and publisher out of Bradenton, Florida who has shared a genuine interest in philosophy and writing since early childhood. He is a husband and father of four. Jay enjoys writing fiction, humor, horror, and teen & young adult.

View all of his professional and philosophical works of literature on his Amazon author page where you will find blogs, videos, and free excerpts:


Jay M Horne