Don't Owe Nobody Nothing!

I'm contemplating nothing this morning. I've always prided myself on owing nothing to nobody. My bills are paid. I've always been an outlaw. So was Myrna. 

Most depictions of nothing (Google image search) focus on black. I intentionally chose an image that focuses on white. Opaque versus empty. Opportunity versus despair.

I'm writing a song called "Don't Owe Nobody Nothing." So far, all I've got is two lines that I think belong in the chorus:

Don't owe nobody nothing and
Nobody owes nothing to me

My father said that I am a hard man, and he was right. I hardened myself intentionally. I learned how to live alone in San Francisco, back when I was still in my early 20s.

I belong nowhere and I belong everywhere. I can function in just about any environment, but I don't join the club. Don't exactly know why I am this way.

Most people want a job for life. I wanted a job for a while to pay the bills. Fitting in wasn't for me. My one attempt at being a manager was a dead failure. I didn't really choose that anyway. The company I worked for thought it was a good idea.

Unlike the hippies in Woodstock, I wasn't about to live out my lonely life in poverty. My tech skills were always marketable, and always gave me the opportunity to work as a hired gun. My relationship with employers was always adversarial... pay me or I'm out of here from my side, and you're necessary now (but too expensive) and we'll get rid of you the moment you're not from the employer side.

This was always fine with me.

Now that I'm retired, I really don't owe nobody nothing. I don't even answer to an employer for my time.

The dilemma for the outlaw is to fill his own time. I'm working on that.

Comments

[Tank]

What kind of outlaw pays his bills LOL?

There's a song in there somewhere.

[Dad Bones]

The outlaw who pays his bills is an outlaw who's harder to catch.

That's my contribution to the song.

[Howlin' Steve]

The sensible outlaw doesn't get caught up in defying authority and poking authority in the nose.

He makes himself invisible to authority.

The goal is to win.