King St. John's Jim

  So I’m walking with my friend, Enkidu on Lombard Ave one evening in St. Johns. We pause to cross a street, and Humbaba walks up and says: "I can’t believe that Tomorrow is the ST JOHN’S PARADE!" Then I said: "And day after that, I can’t believe I’ll wait a whole year for the next one." Then he said something quite significant: "For the last three years I’ve had my childhood dream fulfilled… I’ve been in each St. John’s parade" — Some dream…

After a few more rounds of this, I stopped on the sidewalk and started walking in the other direction, crossing the street. Enkidu was totally mystified: What are you Doing?? – I told him that they guy was a "Mana Vampire" – A person who will hijack your time, your privacy, your emotions in exchange for making you hours older and very bored. Enkidu said, but if I act friendly, in a few weeks I might get a hit off a bong from the guy.

And then I said: would you get your self out-of-tune with your thoughts just so you could talk with a Mana Vampire for even MORE time? And Enkidu replied, "No, I’d just bail right then."

Jim - "So you’d cut him off just like me, except you’d wait to take his grass under the guise of friendship?"

Enkidu - "Well, yes…"

Jim - I’d rather not squander my time, energy and emotions on the iffy payoff of a couple of hits. Kind of like tricking him. Not my style. I don’t want to give my Mana away.

A few minutes later Enkidu exclaims in a stunned voice: "I get it, these people suck your energy: I can count lots of people who do that! I gotta cut that out!"

Friend, I love epiphanies. It’s my passion.