Quit Yo Jibba Jabba!
The other day I was sitting on the train reading a book when all of a sudden Mr. T was screaming in my ear, “I pity the fool!”
I look over and it’s this guy who has one of those Mr. T in Your Pocket keychains. And I laugh, cause it’s funny and I love that this random guy has just randomly chosen me for the Mr. T fun. When he sees that I’m cool with the joke, he starts pushing all of the buttons in succession. “I pity the fool,” “Don’t make me mad … grrrr,” “Don’t gimme no back talk, sucka,” you know, all the classics. I keep smiling at the guy trying to play along, but inside, I was becoming less and less cool with the joke.
Thinking that I wanted to be friends (I know. I asked for it.) he proceeded to tell me the whole story behind the Mr. T in his pocket. Turns out, he had temporarily stolen it from someone’s room at the YMCA.
“I live at the 92nd Street Y, you know, until I get my apartment next month. When I saw this thing in my buddy’s room this morning, I just took it.”
“Uh, you stole it?”
“Oh, you know, I’ll take it back to him. I just thought I needed it today.”
“Okay. I get that. Sometimes you need a Mr. T in your pocket.”
“Yeah. In your back pocket!”
I’m not sure what that meant but, before I got a chance to ask, we were at my stop.
July 18th, 2011 at 6:06 pm
The essence of the Mr. T In Your Pocket is totally lost in a front pocket. Is Wyatt Earp as cool, pulling back his frock, reaching into his front pocket for his six-shooter? No. It’s all about the reach around. Fool.
July 19th, 2011 at 9:47 am
And now, I get it. Well put, Mr. C.