I happened to be watching Volume 2 of the Tarantino epic “Kill Bill”, when a scene popped up towards the end where Bill’s brother, Bud (played by Michael Madsen), and Elle Driver (played by Daryl Hannah) are sitting inside Bud’s dilapidated trailer in the middle of the desert. The two are having a conversation after laying out the resulting terms of contract after the Bride’s death (Uma Thurman) from being buried alive. The lines from that conversation go like this (from IMDb):
Budd: So, which “R” you filled with?
Elle Driver: What?
Budd: They say the number one killer of old people is retirement. People got ’em a job to do, they tend to live a little longer so they can do it. I’ve always figured warriors and their enemies share the same relationship. So, now you ain’t gonna hafta face your enemy on the battlefield no more, which “R” are you filled with: Relief or Regret?
Elle Driver: A little bit of both.
Budd: Bullshit. I’m sure you do feel a little bit of both. But I know damn well you feel one more than you feel the other. The question was, which one?
Elle Driver: Regret.
This is just before Elle releases the Black Mamba on Bud, killing him, regretting she wasn’t the one to kill the Bride. This concept, about retirement, struck a chord with me immediately, coinciding with the death of Joe Paterno only a few days earlier. This theme of great men working until the day they die is something of a topic that has fascinated me for a while now. I don’t know what it is called, or if other people have studied this as well, but I find it very interesting. What keeps us alive? A sense of purpose, a mission, or perhaps the love of a woman, or knowing that we must leave some kind of “legacy” behind. Not to sound like a prick, but the day JoePa was dismissed from Penn State I knew he didn’t have long to live. This is based on the fact that he was a man that has had such a profound impact on so many people, whether you were a Penn State fan or not. He embodied a lot of what Happy Valley meant to people: tradition, pride, something familiar. I didn’t attend Penn State, and nor do I consider myself a Penn State fan, but I do know what Joe Pa meant to a lot of people. To deny the fact that the man was an American icon is nothing short of blasphemy.
This search began with two other influential men that died in 2011, Steve Jobs and Andy Rooney. The former, obviously has had a profound effect on the way we consume content. It is so incredible to me, that he was able to see opportunity in the illegal trade of MP3’s in Napster, and consequently convince the record labels to distribute music through iTunes. Apples controls a lot of the purchase of music, and the way we listen to it (iPods, iPhones). And now posthumously, he has changed the way we read the news, search the internet, and do business, with the iPad. Two years ago when the iPad came out, many people, including myself, mocked it’s utility beyond wasting precious time surfing blogs, Facebook, and watching videos on YouTube. I watched the enormous fanfare on CNBC around lunch time when I was a senior in college, comparing it to an over-sized iPod Touch or Apple’s newest foray into feminine hygiene. However, now I can’t tell you how badly I want one, going as far as begging the IT department to integrate into the sales force for my company. The legacy of Steve Jobs was innovation, creating a wonderful organizational culture, and developing products that consumers on a global scale, didn’t know they wanted. An entrepreneur is someone who capitalizes on creating a solution to a problem. By definition, Steve Jobs is not an entrepreneur, because he created solutions for needs we didn’t he even know existed.
Andy Rooney is a man that I respect, however to be honest, do not know much about beyond the minimal research I performed before writing this post. You have to respect somebody who has achieved this: being able to rant on whatever you want for 3 minutes after a highly legitimate, nationally broadcasted television news show (60 Minutes). His career spanned writing shows during World War II, and then working for CBS for nearly 42 years. His last broadcast of “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” aired on October 2, 2010. He died one month later.
Joe, Steve, and Andy put their passion into their work, and in turn gave them the energy to go on doing what most people are afraid to do: live to their most potential. This reciprocity is what fuels us to keep living. I can only hope to live like they did, unhindered by what others think, and reach my full potential as a human being. I truly believe being industrious is what we were meant to do, and this why I strive to work as hard as I can until the day I die. Being young as I am, retirement seems to be a long time away. Retirement didn’t really happen for these three, they worked and worked without any bit of regret. If I were to leave any kind of legacy behind me, retirement certainly isn’t an option. Most importantly, I don’t ever want to leave this earth with regret.
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