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April 06, 2008
I Am Not Nice...
I suppose you can chalk this up to the innocence of youth, or perhaps as a result of the ignorance of a fable, but now that I am older, I just think that I'm not a nice person.
I have three older sisters, and one younger brother. My sisters and I are all two years apart, and my brother is four years younger than me. Got it? The sister who is closest in age to me is 39.
When we were kids, I used to tease 39 all the time, that some of her favorite singers or actors had just been killed in some horrible, tragic way. For example, I used to tell her that her favorite singer, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, had just been hit by a bus.
Or that ol' Simon's plane just went down. Or that Mr. LeBon (or is that Mr. Bon?) was just skinned alive by a rabid hyena. You get the point.
Of course, none of this was true, as Simon made it through the '80's, and is getting ready to tour again with his band mates. (I actually wouldn't mind seeing the show. They are coming here, and it's something to consider...)
One of 39's other favorite actors of the time was an actor named Jon-Erik Hexum.
You can read more about him here.
Well, one night as I was watching our late local news, one of the last stories to be broadcast that night was a story about Jon-Erik. It seems that Mr. Hexum, while on a movie set, shot himself accidentally. This was too good for a 14 year old boy who wanted to torture his 16 year old sister! I ran upstairs to her room, and told her that Jon-Erik was dead.
I don't recall exactly what she said to me that night, but it was something laced with expletives, a few "I hate you's" and probably a shoe thrown at my head for good measure.
That's what I get for playing wolf. But I was serious this time, and I wanted her to know that one of her faves was gone. She refused to believe me. (Would you? I mean, can you blame her?) I was determined that she was going to learn the truth about the fatality, either from me, or from someone who knew. What did I do? I called the Assignment Desk at the CBS station I originally heard the news from.
Back in those days, for you younger readers, you could pick up one phone somewhere in the house, and someone could pick up an extension, and listen in. And that's just what we did. I spoke to an Assignment Editor at the station, who confirmed the story.
Again, I can't remember what was said afterward, but suffice it to say, it probably wasn't pleasant, I certainly deserved it.
But then an interesting thing happened...I became an Assignment Editor. Weird, huh?
Sorry, 39. (Well, only a little...)
Posted by Jon at April 6, 2008 06:28 PM