The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

A long-time friend of mine will be hosting a political talk radio show before too long, which I will be doing work for. It's been interesting to observe. His Facebook posts have been attempting to offend, prompt comments and generate attention/traffic. Unfortunately, things have gotten pretty heated at times between he and other commentators. In his mind, he's just trying to be a radio-show personality, get under people's skin, get them talking and hope that word of mouth helps with ratings. As he told me, "It's all a game." To him, he wants people to hate him. He wants to be like that car accident, where people are saddened/angered by what happened, yet can't look away. Unfortunately, it's difficult for many who know this guy to separate the on-air from off-air personalities and when the on-air personality sends a perhaps rather insulting comment in response to one of theirs, they take it personally - like they would from the off-air personality, a ...

“The Game” I know the rules, But refuse to abide, Many others do, And seem happier than I, A game of chess, Awaiting the next move, Looking the opponent in the eyes, And knowing what they’re about to do, A game of poker, A serious look across one’s face, Maintaining a sense of mystery, Not wanting to give anything away, A game of football, Taking advantage of the other’s weaknesses, Plotting this for sixty minutes, Until they finally give in, Honesty’s not a top priority, Openness is frowned upon, Kindness is optional, Generosity non-existent, A game of love, Of toying with the heart, With an excitement, anxiety and bewilderment, It pounds and pounds, Winless to this point, But refusing to give in, As it’s only a matter of time, Before that streak comes to an end.