Billy Hill Badassery Award 6 - Random Citizen on Sidewalk

Billy Hill was driving down a busy street in his neighborhood this morning, coming back from a client meeting and a short stop to visit with a friend, and he sees this older, skinny gentlemen with an Owen Wilson shaped head (if you know what I mean) walking up the sidewalk.  Well, not just walking, he was . . . maybe parading?  Yes parading.  But all by himself, at least from what the naked eye could see.  Not sure what HIS mind saw, who knows, he could have been the freaking Grand Marshal of the Fuck You brigade.  Sorry if that language offends you.  Note, that is not an apology for using it I am just sorry if it offends you because it is really a universally wonderful phrase but . . . well let me explain what is going on here.  

You see, this man had his right hand stretched way up into the sky like he was picking apples from the branch of a tree that was just out of reach.  Up on his tiptoes and trying to reach as high as he possibly could.  And his right hand was clenched white-knuckle tight, all except for the bird of paradise, the middle finger, you get the point (Billy Hill pun).  And he was thrusting this in the air, and waiving it around with such vigor that at times, I believe his feet may have even come off of the ground.  He was thrusting it towards the heavens, towards the businesses on the road, towards the passing cars, basically at the entire world.  It was one huge Fuck You to the entire world.  Billy Hill had to laugh, and laugh loudly Billy Hill did.  

Billy Hill wanted to stop to take a picture, he almost turned around to do so but, Billy Hill has a very important rule that he strictly adheres to:  

If you see a man walking down the sidewalk of a busy road with his hand stretched way up in the air and his middle finger is extending from a clutched fist that he thrusts and waives around violently in all directions NEVER EVER stop to take his picture.  

This rule has served Billy Hill quite well thus far.  

But Billy Hill flipped the finger right back at this gentleman, not to show disapproval of his behavior but really, just to acknowledge that Billy Hill knows where he is coming from.  Sometimes you just need to tell the world to Fuck Off.  Take your broken, fallen, evil, hating, mean, non-comforting self and just Fuck Off.  

You see, this has been a tough year for Billy Hill as well.  Having experienced a horrible collapse of his family, losing a great friend and father figure to cancer in September, then losing another great friend to cancer in May, then losing his father in June, having his nephew-in-law (a great bourboniser) in the hospital with a weird thing going on with his head causing him to black out, and then just recently losing another great friend in a drowning accident that left a young wife and young kid without him, Billy Hill gets it.  In fact, seeing this man was almost a gift from God for Billy Hill.  He sort of needed that, a reminder to pause from time to time and just tell the world to Fuck Off.  And so random citizen, Billy Hill grants you the Billy Hill Badassery award.  Thanks for the moment.  

And, not to exit this post without a great opportunity for an education, do you know where flipping the bird came from?  Well, Billy Hill does.  Here is the story:

The use of raising the middle finger actually began back in medieval times.  French warriors would cut off the middle finger of British archers because, that was the finger they used to pull the string back on the bow.  And so, the archers who replaced them would stick their middle fingers up in the air to mock the French showing them that they got their finger and that they are going to launch an arrow through their ocular cavities (yes the French were assholes even back in medieval times, some things never change).

So you see, it is not a bad thing and if you are offended, you should relax, find a quiet place somewhere where no one can see you and just raise your hand in the air and lift that middle finger and say "Fuck You spouse that divorced me and wiped me out financially", "Fuck You dad that treated me like crap", "Fuck You person that has abused me and made me feel bad about myself", "Fuck You you mean Fuck", "Fuck You random stranger that keyed my truck", "Fuck You people that are making bourbon outside of Kentucky", "Fuck You death", "Fuck You cancer", "Fuck You Islamic murderers".  It can be therapeutic.  Don't get stuck there mind you.  Remember you have a God that loves you perfectly and is quite aware of what you are going through and understands.  And even if you have to say "Fuck You God" which many of us have had to do from time to time (and if you never have, then count your blessings), He is big enough to understand and love you even through that.

So, random citizen, Billy Hill does not know what you are going through, where you have been, what is hurting your heart and why you may feel lost and alone.  Did you lose a friend?  Did you lose a family?  Did your shoelace break?  So often when people are hurting we try to say words to comfort them but really, you never know what to say because you never really know where they are at.  So, let people hurt, let them grieve, let them process in their own way without judging them and just let them know that you are standing right there beside them.  Every experience, every hurt, every pain we go through makes us better - if we let it.  As Howard Hendricks said "There is no garbage in the Kingdom of God".  He will use everything in our lives for his Glory, even a PG rated blog post.  

Billy Hill here, I like it neat.