Entitlement

A photo of Huck, taken later in transit, out my portal window.

I’ve thought a lot about what Zeke said about one of the best parts of this business being the human integration aspect. Throw a bunch of people in a boat together and see what you get. Some get off. Some stay on. Those who stay find a way to fit together. I look at Marcus and Huck, neither of them old enough to drink (legally) (in the U.S.), and realize that no other road would have connected me with them. I’ve hardly interacted with an 18-year-old since maybe even when I was 18 myself. Yet here I am, finding myself some odd combination of their friend, their ally, their provider and their mother.

Yesterday they were scolded for asking for more, and for helping themselves to barbecue sauce in the fridge, which is part of my domain. I don’t mind that the young North Carolinian prefers barbecue sauce on his chicken. He’s surely never had it ‘confit’ before. When he came back into the kitchen for the barbecue, I said he could take it, but to try pouring the confit sauce over the chicken first. I think he listened to me - but his behavior was seen as insubordinate. “These kids,” explained the Philospher, “have a false sense of entitlement.”