I remember reading the late Paul Harvey’s, “The Rest of the Story” when I was younger and how impressed I was with the stories of great people. One such story was about a young boy named ‘Guiseppe’. Guiseppe’s father was an Italian fisherman who came to America with his family, bought a fishing boat and developed a successful fishing business, while teaching his boys the trade. However, one of his sons was not interested in the fishing business. In fact, the rocking of the boat and the smell of fish made him noxious. His father‘s desire, to have his sons involved in his business, was very important to him. He would sometimes become so angry at Guiseppe that he would say mean things to him, suggesting that he was never going to amount to anything and that he was a ‘Good for Nothing’. In the meantime, Guiseppe tried many things: he was a messenger boy, a paperboy, as well as with many other odd-jobs. While his father chided him, he kept searching for a job he could do and one that he liked and could do well. If Guiseppe hadn’t been too seasick to join the family business, he would have left a vacancy in the Hall of Fame too great to fill…Guiseppe became none other than baseball’s great “Joe DiMaggio”. I wonder how many young people have been addressed as a “Good for Nothing” by a disgruntled parent. I wonder, also, how many believed it; believed that they were ‘good for nothing’ and went on to prove it? Or, I wonder too, how many were called “good for nothing” found their niche and became good, productive people as did Joe DiMaggio.
There are many children, who become influenced by the ‘dark side’ or maybe just the ‘shady side’ and end up doing things they later regret, or begin doing things that become habit for them and eventually cause them serious health problems or maybe even death. The problems may be of a social nature or maybe physical and even serious enough to cause a great deal of pain or even their death. Parents are often led to say or at least to think, ‘My son, or daughter, is starting to develop habits, friends, etc. that are going to become an unhealthy experience for them. Parent’s may feel helpless, because the child has agency, they can and will do whatever, they please. The parent is driven by love and by logic but the child is driven by social acceptance, excitement, and testosterone. There are youth who will experience the excitement of going along with the shady ones. When they come to the realization that doing things contrary to what is obviously right and good, some will recognize that it is not for them. Oh! what a relief parents must feel when children choose, on their own, to be good people, even avoiding the pitfalls of youth.
I have never used the terminology, “Good For Nothing” with my children but I have thought, and was afraid, a few of them were turning the wrong direction. We tried very hard to turn them around. Because of some of their choices, their lives may not have been as full and as blessed as they may have been but they are, nevertheless, good people and very much loved. I remember a song of my youth, a song sung very well by one of my friends. It was by Louis Armstrong, and was called, “On the Sunny Side of the Street”. The first two verses are: ‘Grab your coat, Grab your hat, baby, Leave your worries on the doorstep, Just direct your feet, on the sunny side of the street, Can’t you hear a pitter-pat, babe? And that happy tune is your step, Life can be so sweet, On the sunny side of the street.’ I can hear it in my head right now, just as if it were sixty some years ago, ‘Life can be so sweet, On the sunny side of the street.’ If we stay, ‘On the sunny side of the street,’ you will never hear, “Good for Nothing”.