“Now I don’t want you listening to this darn liberal Gerald, you can tell he’s nuts.” she whispered to her son sitting two seats from me. I struggled to hide my chuckling as the lady beside me continued to criticize Alec Baldwin’s speech. I can’t really blame her; Alec was a charismatic, progressive, open-minded man and a great speaker. She, was a prude who had too much collagen in her lips, and was wearing a genuine fur coat.
Her particular dislike of Baldwin (who was speaking at the Rochester Institute of Technology close to the U of R campus) began after Baldwin began to speak about his liberal political views, passionately proclaiming that “Money does not belong in politics.” I could hear her grumbling under her breath as her embarrassed son, Gerald, begged her to stop, citing my uncontrollable giggling as support for his request. But then, Baldwin proceeded to say something that infuriated Madame Uptight even more.
“I urge you. I urge you to listen to your heart. To be free. Now, you parents are going to hate me for this…but your children have to know the truth. The truth is that…the best plan to have, is to have no plan at all.”
Madame Uptight picked up her purse and loudly proceeded to exit the venue.
I sat still, slowly dissociating myself from Baldwin’s live speech and entering my own mind’s busy labyrinth. He was right. Nothing I have ever achieved has come to me as a result of good planning, everything just kind of happened. Is it truly worth worrying about every single aspect of my life, when I hardly have any real control over my future? Or should I just enjoy the ride and see where life takes me instead?
With hopes & dreams intact,
Alex Montes