Not in Front of the Kids
They cleared out an entire mall this morning because somebody said some guy had a rifle. Turned out an hour and God knows how many taxpayers’ dollars later we find out it was an umbrella.I was at Target some six miles away when the scare was still ‘live’ and heard a little kindergartener exclaiming about it to her father. “Everyone just had to LEAVE! Everyone! Can you believe it?” “Hmmmm,” said her dad who didn’t appear to even hear her. Anyway he was walking three feet ahead as she trotted fast to keep up.I sure hope he didn’t tell her about the gun scare and the threat of a man committing murder. Maybe he had the radio on in the car and she heard it for herself.The only time I ever thought about murder was the year the Martin Scorsese film Casino came out and I went alone to see it just because some reviewer raved over it. Casino has Joe Pesci in it so I knew there would be both violence and many examples of the language’s most unimaginative word.The story is about Las Vegas back in Mob times and just as I feared I almost passed out during the scene when someone got his head put in a vise in the early scenes; and I'm still literally haunted by the scene in the desert where the two poor guys are forced to strip to their little underpants before getting shot to death.Still, it was my fault; I went to see the movie of my own accord - unlike the two very young children in the row in front of me, brought by their moron of a father. Once I noticed them three-quarters of the way through the film I could think of nothing else. The little boy, maybe five, was staring silent and dazed at the screen. As for his sister, maybe a year older, she couldn’t even look. She kept glancing over at the walls and up at the ceiling, her little feet, which did not reach the floor, going back and forth, back and forth in agitated fashion.When the movie ended the father stood to stretch, turning part way around as he did so. That’s when he saw my face. His idiotic remark, delivered in sheepish fashion? “They’ll sleep tonight!” I wanted to slap his big dumb face and take away his children . It was rainy that day too as I remember, so I actually had my umbrella. I only wished it was the kind tipped with poison at the point.Here's the trailer for Casino which also stars Robert DeNiro and Sharon Stone. You can find many more violent scenes from it on YouTube if you like. If you don't mind having your humanity diminished. Just for Heavens's sake make sure no children come in the room while you're watching. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t09aGcMjnWM]
