Abraham's Son, Chapter 24

 EXT. PARK NEAR ABRAHAM'S HOUSE - DAY

ABRAHAM and MESSENGER talk while sitting on bench.

MESSENGER:  So, you enjoyed your time with HELEN?

ABRAHAM:  Yes.  Now I believe you are who you say you are.  What does God want of me?

MESSENGER:  Finally.  We should have done this two days ago...You read the newspapers.  The world is in a dangerous situation.  I'm talking especially about what is being referred to as climate change.  

ABRAHAM:  Yeah, I agree.  I think everyone, especially government, should do what they can to counteract what's been happening to the environment.

MESSENGER:   Well, the situation is far worse than what your scientists say.  If something drastic is not done soon, life on earth will end in about 100 years.

ABRAHAM:  Oh, my God.

MESSENGER:  Precisely.  However, God is very encouraged by this United Nations proposal on climate change.  Unfortunately, the U.S. president, a leader in the world, opposes it.  This has created a dangerous situation.  This is where you come in, sort of like Moses going to the Egyptian Pharaoh.  

ABRAHAM:  What can I do?

MESSENGER:  You are a friend of ROBERT SILVER.

ABRAHAM:  Yeah.  We met in high school.  Saw him again a few years ago.

MESSENGER:  He has become the president's special trusted adviser.  If he can become convinced the U.N. proposal is worthwhile, there's a good chance he can persuade the president.  You must go to him...as soon as possible...and persuade ROBERT SILVER.

ABRAHAM:  I can try.  I'll do my best.

MESSENGER:  That's not enough.  Yesterday, I mentioned consequences.  Well, here it is.  You must succeed.  If not, you will be punished...severely.  As punishment, you will have to sacrifice your son.  

ABRAHAM:  What?  I can't...I won't do that.  I can never harm my son.  You never mentioned this yesterday.

MESSENGER:  You received a very special opportunity almost nobody gets, to talk to the dearly departed.  This is the price you accepted.

ABRAHAM:  I didn't accept that.

MESSENGER:  I said consequences.  This is the consequence.  Look, if you succeed, you won't have to worry about any sacrifice.  So succeed.  

ABRAHAM has a very worried expression on his face.  Before he can say anything more, the MESSENGER is gone.

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Next blog post will be Sunday, January 7, 2024.

Ernst & Ernst

Early in 1968, I suffered one of my worst days.  I got fired.  What a humiliation!

It all started in July of 1967 when I moved to Michigan.  I had expected to be at Lackland Air Force Base outside of San Antonio, Texas, but my colitis diagnosis scuttled that plan and I had to devise a new one ASAP or I would spend another summer in Oswego living with my parents.  

I chose suburban Detroit because my late brother Ted lived there with his wife and infant son.  My first and only job interview was at the CPA firm Ernst & Ernst (E&E) on West Fort Street in downtown Detroit.  Why did I go there, I don't remember.  

The Personnel guy who interviewed me was impressed with my Penn-Wharton degree and offered me a job at $10,500 per year.  A lot of money in 1967.

My brother advised me not to accept any offer right away, not believing I would receive such a high offer.  I accepted the next day.

The job was as an accounting auditor, a position for which I had no academic training.  At Penn, I took only 6 accounting courses, none of which were about auditing.  My colleagues at E&E had three times the number of accounting courses, including auditing.

My experience at E&E consisted of being assigned to a different manager and client every couple of weeks or so.  My first assignment was at a bank where we opened a very rich family's safe deposit box and counted their stocks and bonds.

I was expected to be available for work 24/7.  An example was I had to leave Thanksgiving lunch early so I could go to the fur vault (to count furs) at a downtown Detroit department store.

About six months after I started, I arrived at the West Fort Street office early in the morning.  I was called to the Personnel office.

The manager there read me an appraisal from a job I had worked from about two months before.  I considered that the audit manager who wrote it had been friendly towards me.  However, what he wrote was highly critical.  I hadn't shown the proper amount of enthusiasm for my work.  I just did what I was told...nothing more.

Therefore, I was to be terminated.  I tried to justify myself to the Personnel manager, but it was hopeless.  The decision was made.  Case closed.

At first, I was depressed.  But, then I remembered how much I hated my job.  Then, I was relieved...but, still humiliated.

But, the Personnel manager gave me one good piece of advice.  He said in the future I should stay clear of CPA firms and try for a position in private accounting.  When I moved to New York City, I did just that.  I got a job with Joseph E. Seagram's & Sons, Inc. and stayed for 31 years...and three months.  

Body and Soul

Body and Soul is a 1947 film noir boxing drama which stars John Garfield, Lilli Palmer and Lloyd Gough.  Garfield was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Lead role (but lost to Ronald Colman in A Double Life).  Francis Lyon and Robert Parrish won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Body and Soul. 

In the movie, Charley Davis (Garfield) grows up poor in New York City.  His parents operate a candy store.  As a result, Charley yearns to become rich, obsessed with having a lot of money.

As a young man, Charley discovers he has a talent for boxing.  After a while, he attracts the attention of a manager and turns professional.

Charley also meets and falls in love with Peg (Palmer), a woman from a different world, who studies art and wants to be a painter.  She provides Charley with a moral compass other than money.

As the public starts to think of Charley as a championship contender, he draws the attention of Roberts (Gough), a corrupt boxing promotor.  For a chance at the championship, Charley must give 50% of all future winnings to Roberts, who also advances money to Charley, putting him in debt.

Charley wins the boxing championship and starts living a lavish life style as a symbol of his new found wealth, but falls more and more in debt to Roberts.  In order to make a killing on Charley's next fight, Roberts demands Charley agree to lose.  They will all bet against Charley, the favorite.  Reluctantly, Charley agrees.

Peg argues against this unethical decision, but Charley feels boxed in by his debt to Roberts.  Originally, Charley is told he would lose by a decision, but is double crossed when his opponent goes for a knockout in the 13th round.

On the verge of losing the fight, Charley rallies and wins by a knockout in the 15th and final round.  Thus, they all lose their bets.  After the fight, Charley bonds with Peg and tells Roberts he is retiring from boxing.  Love has finally conquered money.

Having lost a lot of money on the fight, Roberts threatens Charley.  Charley responds, "What are you going to do?  Kill me.  Everybody dies."  Those last two words are a repetition of a line Roberts often used.

Then, when Peg asks Charley, "Are you all right?", he responds, looking directly at Roberts, "I never felt better in my life."