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Pastimes : ISOMAN AND HIS CAVE OF SOLITUDE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: barbara sperino who wrote (89)	1/2/1999 11:56:00 AM
From: ISOMAN	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 539

Just Ben I remember the day very well. It was late August and quite chilly outside. I was coaching a soccer team for kindergarten and first-graders, and it was the day of our first practice. It was cold enough to the point where all of the cute little boys and girls were bundled up in extra sweatshirts, jackets, gloves and mittens with those cute little straps connected to the sleeves of their jacket. As was normally the case any time I was coaching a new team, we took the first few minutes to get to know one another. I do this for the kids as much as for myself; it often seems that kids don't get along as well with one another unless they know and remember each other's names. On this particular day, I sat the kids down on the dugout bench---soccer in Austin is played on the outfield grass at the softball complex. We went up and down the row a few times, each kid saying his or her name and the name of all the kids to their left. After a few frustrating minutes of this, I decided to put the kids to the ultimate test. I asked for a volunteer who thought he or she knew the name of all eleven kids on the team and could prove it to all of us right then. There was one brave little six-year-old who felt up to the challenge. He was to start at the far-left end of the bench, go up to each kid, say that kid's name and then shake his or her right hand. Alex started off and was doing very well. While I stood behind him, he went down the row - Dylan, Micah, Sara, Beau, and Danny - until he reached Ben, by far the smallest kid on the team. He stammered out Ben's name without much trouble and extended his right hand, but Ben would not extend his. I looked at Ben for a second, as did Alex and the rest of the little ones on the bench, but he just sat there, his right hand hidden under the cuff of his jacket. "Ben, why don't you let Alex shake your hand?" I questioned. But Ben just sat there looking at Alex and then at me and then at Alex once again. "Ben, what's the matter?" I asked. But he still just sat there with a blank, far-away look in his eyes. Finally he stood up looked up at me and said, "But coach, I don't have a hand," after which he unzipped his jacket, pulling it away from his right shoulder. Sure enough, Ben's arm ran from his right shoulder just like every other kid on the team, but unlike the rest of his teammates, his arm stopped at the elbow. No fingers, no hand, no forearm. I'll have to admit, I was taken back a bit and couldn't think of anything to say or how to react, but thank God for little kids-- and their unwillingness to be tactful. "Look at that," said Alex. "Hey, what happened to your arm?" another asked. "Does it hurt?" Before I knew it, a small crowd of ten players and a bewildered coach encircled a small child who was now taking off his jacket to show all those around him what they all wanted to see. In the next few minutes, a calm, collected 6-year-old explained to all of those present that he had always been that way and that there was nothing special about him because of it. What he meant was that he wanted to be treated like every other kid on the team. And he was from that day on. He was just Ben, one of the players on the team. Not Ben, the kid with one arm. by Adrian Wagner

To: barbara sperino who wrote (89)	1/4/1999 6:37:00 AM
From: ISOMAN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 539

And now...the further adventures of ISOMAN It is now 6:15 A.m. and I have returned to my den... I always wondered why "Shoppers Drugmart tm " would stay open 24 hours...now I know. So I went to the drug store and I said "I need some more perkacet" and the pharmacist looked at me funny...probably because it is -6 F out (i converted it for you yankees oh yes and you other americans, the ones in the south) Anyway I gave him my perscription and he looked at me again and said the correct name which escapes me now..anyway they are little pills that pack quite the wallop. Reminds me of the 70's. Oh yes Rebels. I think they called the south Rebels. Anyway he hands me the prescription and he says Tell ISOMAN (yes that is my real name) that he should not drive while taking these or use anything dangerous. So I said I am ISOMAN . He said..well how did you get here..and I said in my Truck. now here is my dilemma, I called it my truck, but really IS IT a ruck. I mean it is a Yukon, so it is like a sporty Suburban...bigger than a jimmy, but smaller than a suburban. So it isn't really a truck.but it isn't a car or a Van either. Anyway, he told me I should be driving. I said well I shouldn't be impailing myself with a diningroom chair either, but that didn't stop me. So I left. Oh I know, a sport utility...I heard them call them that before..that's ok I guess...kind of snotty though..let's see.. LEAVE YOUR CAR HERE WE'LL TAKE MY SPORT UTILITY TO THE MOVIE no that's no good...too pretentious.. well, just betwween you and I, my Son and I call it the Vessel (the way chekov said it in Star Trek) So I get in the vessel and on my way home I stop in my favorite coffee shop to get some coffee because my wife won't let me use the coffee maker while I am on drugs because I'll burn the house down... (Nevermind that she let me rip a portion of the roof off in the middle of winter to build an addition and expand the second floor..very nice actually, it is a clear floor design over the kitchen dining area which is where I was putting the dormer when I took the whoops which is where I ended up joining whith the chair) So in the coffee shop some friends were there and they said ISOMAN what are you doing up at 5 in the morning. and I said I was out getting some more drugs, and they said, why are you wearing a robe, and I said, because it hurts too much to put on pants and I showed them the fibreglass cast over my wound (pretty cool, I have a wound) So I left again ad now I am home, but I think my wife is waking up and she'll probably want to know why the Vessel is warm so I think I am in trouble. (bet I get to use the coffee maker now) Oh yes...Russ Howard I saw that shishkabob comment...all I have to say is... . . . . . . . . . AHAH AHHHAAAAAH HHA HA vERY GOOD. Hop along ISO-cassidy