samedi 11 juin 2011

I was a rover

Michel Pé

7 Rampe du Pont

92 Courbevoie

Courbevoie, December 22nd, 2000,

Dear Uncle Rudy,

Once again I wish you all the best for this new year, and same for John, of course. Happiness, health and everything. I understand you are still living in Florida and I hope you enjoy it. Florida lately has entered history. Everybody now in France has noticed that you have very interesting voting machines. Rudy, if someone was to tell me you were the designer, I would believe it. But I must admit that your choice was difficult : a neck-tie seller on one side, and a serial killer on the other side, my God, what a dilemma.

Now let me give you some news from France. The Company is doing well, it sells many Eagles, it has sold military aircraft to Greece and to the Emirs, so I make a lot of money and I like it. I appreciate my new boss very much. I think he likes me well, too, although he knows he cant ask me to take things too seriously. The only thing I personally dont like too much is that he is much more clever and cute than I am. And moreover, he is a literary man, when I should be the only one in this place. He also even plays transverse flute, can you believe that ? You dont play transverse flute, do you ? Nobody in Afro plays transverse flute, am I right or not ? Talking of literature, let me offer you the final version of the retirement speech I had prepared for you, Rudy, in June 1999. I wont win any prize with this, of course, but honestly, seriously, I think I could have become some sort of a writer, or at least a teacher, if I had not made that terrible mistake of becoming an engineer. Maybe I would have surmounted my exceptional laziness. But I swear it, I did everything I could in order not to obtain the degree, but in France it is definitely impossible. When you're caught, you're caught. Christ, there are only three professions I hate more than engineers : lawyers, priests and undertakers.

But now let's become serious. This summer I have spent two weeks in Ireland. A wonderful, amazing place, believe me. It would take hours to tell you about all the incredible experiences I enjoyed in the pubs and greyhound races. Irismen, that's the genuine truth, are the most friendly and humorous people on this earth. And heavy drinkers, too, I have noticed. Over there, the unit for a beer is the pint. If you order a glass, they think you're sick and call a doctor. Thus, I had quite a number of very pleasant nights and several times experienced some difficulty to find my bed. But the result was that back in France my wife has made me an offer : stop drinking or beat it. So I thought it over, met several doctors who all told me I had drunk enough for several lifetimes, and finally I have totally stopped drinking. Not a drop. I have got to live like that during one year at least, and then we'll see. My daughter, who is now twenty-one, has helped me a lot. Well, it is recent but I am trustful because I am highly motivated. I realize now how unhappy my wife and the children were, how I had lost my dignity, how my perception of the world was distorted. I feel much happier now.

My Best Regards and Friendship.

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