The sad case of being Tom Hanks

 

January 1, 2009

 

You would think Tom Hanks would be the happiest man on earth.

But he’s not.

A man with more money than God, and he’s letting a skanky small-town contractor get under his skin.

The lawsuit against him claims Hanks is looking for revenge.

But I suspect Hanks is striving for something called ‘Justice’ and like that famous line from Jurassic Park says, “I don’t mind you making mistakes, Denis, but I expect you to pay for them.”

Justice, however, is a rare thing in our world, and in most cases, it is confined to fiction rather than reality.

I understand how Hanks feels, since we had a similar issue with illegal contractors building two largely illegal buildings next to ours, and we struggled to get justice, when it was not to be had.

Even though I am a reporter and some political people fear me, I had to give up the need for justice.

The process consumes you and steals valuable energy from your life.

Sometimes, you have to settle for letting the skanky characters destroy themselves.

I’ve seen images of Hank’s hideaway, and if I was him I would simply find someone else to make the dream a reality, and let the skanky contractor find some other sucker to pick on.

The concept is hard to swallow, and involves a lot of Zen to accomplish, to back off from confrontation when it is counter productive, to let the other guy think he’s won, when in truth, he violated his own soul with his misdeeds.

For me, Hanks and his wife, turn out looking like cranks – just as I looked when I tried to stop the contractors from destroying my driveway.

Deep down, you want some satisfaction, some sense that the world is just.

But it’s not.

And sometimes the best you can do, and the most rewarding thing, is to get on with your life and find happiness beyond it.