Good-bye to you

Ever happen to hear an old song that not only evokes a frozen moment in time, but also perfectly expresses your current feelings about a person, place or thing? No? Well, I have.

It just happened this past Saturday as I was working out in the gym at our corporate apartment. Having forgotten my trusty iPod, I was forced to listen to the gym's music, which was blasting out a VH1 'Remembering the '80s' mix. That's when I heard Patty Smyth and Scandal belt out their memorable “Good-bye To You”.

 

Note: In addition to being head-over-heels in love with the then 25-year-old Smyth (not to be confused with the cadaverous Patti Smith), I always loved her independent, free-wheeling interpretation of the lyrics (and thought it perfectly captured my own wayward bachelor's POV on life and love at the time).

As I listened to it again for the first time in a quarter century, though, I realized the song also nailed my current feelings for the New York Mets. (I'm neither pleased nor embarrassed to say I've yet to watch a single half-inning of Mets baseball this entire season. They bore me.) And, that's what the song's lyrics capture:

These last few weeks (years)of holding on, the days are dull, the nights are long, guess it's better to say, good-bye to you

I've said good-bye to the Mets once before— right after they traded away Tom Seaver and before they began building the great '86 championship team.

I think it's ok to walk away from a person, place or thing if, like the Mets, they're causing too much psychic or physical damage. I've abandoned other 'things', including:

- All American-made cars
- Devil Dogs (after 30 years, I still consider myself a recovering Devil Dogaholic)
- The Roman Catholic faith
- TV sitcoms (minus 'Curb', 'Seinfeld' and 'The Office')
- TV reality shows (minus 'Mob Wives' 'I Shouldn't Be Alive' and 'Intervention')
- Attending any event in the Meadowlands (traffic, noise and hooliganism trump any upsides)
- Working for a holding company PR firm (life's far too short to have to deal with the internal politics, bureaucracy and shark-infested waters).

I may say hello to the Mets sometime in the future. I have before.

In fact, I imagine they'll one day reach out to me with an unexpected e-mail entitled, “Hi, do you remember me?” And, like a jilted lover, I'll respond tentatively with a, “Um, yes, I remember. You broke my heart.” And, the Mets will suggest getting together again over a drink. And, sucker that I am, I'll agree. And, then I'll be hooked.

But until then, I'll heed Patty Smyth's final lyrics and tell the Mets, “Good-bye baby. So long darling. Good-bye to you!”

 

Comments

[Isaac]

which do you envision happening first- a reunion with the Mets or a reunion with MSE?

[RepMan]

I’ve said good-bye to both in my mind, I-Man. But, hope springs eternal with the Mets. Not so much with medical supply executives.

[jkasko]

Wow - you haven't watched a single half-inning of a Mets game this year?

Maybe it's time to say hello to the Yankees, Admiral?

I'll be up in the Bronx next weekend with two of my boys (who are rabid Yankees fans). Hoping our NJTransit and subway experiences will be OK. Maybe you should join us?

[RepMan]

Never, ever, in a million years will I set foot in the house next to the house that Ruth built. The Mets may have lost me, but the Yankees will never gain me. Put that in your QuoteShip pipe and smoke it, CPO Kasko.