My Townie Titan Moment!

Calling Mr. Kid! Can you hear me, Mr. Kid?

Now I know Mrs. Kid is out there, too, but this is for your brother, this one time. We all know and really love how very much Mrs. Kid and Miss Kid and Ms. Kid and Girl Kid are rising up like dynamite these days.

But where are you now, Mr. Kid, Boy Kid, you kid, me kid? This one is just for you, little mister, so little sister, go grab little mister and tell him to listen, and to listen real good.

Are you there now, Teddy’s and Tommy’s of the world? Did your little miss sis get you away from the bed or breakfast or laptop, all you Keith’s and Tony’s out there? C’mon now, Demetrius, Tyrone, Jose, Eduardo, and Toshiko, none of you get a pass either!

You need a good story, and you’re about to get a great story! No, don’t go there, this is not an everything’s rosy from Rosy kind of tale and you should be, too. Wake up, finish your cereal, and by all means turn that video off and lay off the sugary stuff.

This tale means something to you. To all of us guys. New guys, old guys, little guys around big brother guys, and especially you little misters without big misters around you.

You know that life you live, wherever it is that you live it? Here we go again, and this will end this very moment: Don’t you dare turn me off or put me down with another “you don’t understand me” excuse, or worse yet, that “you don’t even know me” line. Don’t believe me if you like, but I’ll go ahead and try it, anyway.

Would you dare to believe, Mr. Kid travel team athlete in La Jolla, that you’ve actually got something in common with Mr. Kid on the south side of Chicago? Not the tough things in the hood, I get that. Not the super-rich things either, I know that as well.

It’s this, you two, and all of you: He’s a future man, You’re a future man, and both of you, Man to Man, have got to—sooner or later, and it better be sooner—stand up and show up.

Don’t pretend you can’t possibly share anything with another Mr. Kid that doesn’t keep $50 goalie gloves next to a soccer ball in your closet that costs twice as much. Yes, this concerns you, too, across the oceans and ponds, even if you have no idea of the who or the what or even the why of this story yet.

The fact is, sooner or later, and Man to Man, this needs to be your story.

Fine, you are more than a little confused now, and for a very good reason. Even if I was sold on showing up and standing up, how does Mr. Old Guy tell Mr. Kid how to do that?

Stop it right there, Connor and Blake. Put the brakes on now, Pablo and Marcus. Since when do you think that I was Mr. Old Guy, anyway?

I just happen to be a Mr. Kid, too, you know! You can even guess my age if you like. And I know how to stand up, and I know how to show up.

How is that possible? Leon, Patrick, and Martin, don’t play dumb, I know the question is out there, so I will answer it for you:

Yours truly, the one, the only Mr. Kid, has had my Townie Titan moment!

Your what?

That’s right, Ronaldo and Fernando: My Townie Titan Moment!

And what is that you may ask? Well, dear Weldon and Wally, let me tell you.

Did you ever have one of those little boy moments where you were nothing but scared? Stand up to what, are you kidding me? You probably never wanted to show up to even stand up!

That was me last Thursday. And I could’ve easily talked or excused myself into a three-day weekend from school. It took everything not to come home from school crying my eyes out. That day, in the classroom, to and from the bus stop, eating lunch, on the playground: Non-stop rude names, chanting, rumors, accusations from those kids.

Sure, this had gone on for weeks, but Thursday was the worst, the absolute worst! But my father would have none of that from his son. I was going to school on Friday, I was going to walk to that bus stop, and tomorrow would be just like today, even as I couldn’t hold back tears any longer.

Don’t leave yet, Luciano or Craig, for the Mr. Man in my Mr. Kid life was about to show up and show me why he was Mr. Hero. You see, the what of Friday—get up, dress, eat, bus, school, home—would not change. Neither would my problems from those kids.

What would change is my how: How I chose to respond, or not respond, to all this. This would be my Townie Titan moment.

Who is this Townie Titan, Deshawn and Derrick may be wondering? Well, Mr. Hero solved that mystery for Mr. Kid, too. When my Dad was much younger—not as young as me, but not as old as now—he coached Mr. Kids like us in travel team soccer. Townie’s last name wasn’t Titan, but he sure was a titan to my father.

Dad told me about that practice long ago. Townie was a very good player, and a very smart kid without a negative bone in his body. Yet for an hour or more, many of his teammates treated him like my classmates treated me last Thursday. On and on and on this went. They remembered Townie from the team’s previous days, and they simply couldn’t stand him for some reason. These bullies were relentless and unstoppable.

And then it came time for a team water break. As coach, Dad was really concerned about how Townie was being treated by the rest of his team. He went over to him as he took a final sip and gave it to him straight.

“Townie, these guys are really giving you a hard time today!” My father would not be surprised to see a little boy like me react with endless crying and giving up.

That did not happen. Not at all.

Townie Titan put his hands on his hips, and looked his coach in the eye, and smiled the best he could.

And then Townie Titan said to his coach, “They don’t scare me,” and then he walked away.

Just like that, that’s all what he said, and he walked away as practice resumed. That was Townie Titan’s moment.

And that was also when my Dad said to his very own Mr. Kid, “So, Mr. Kid, will Friday—will tomorrow, not Monday, but tomorrow—be your Townie Titan moment? What will that moment be, every step of the way on Friday? Honestly, son, if you can’t face your Townie Titan moment on Friday, all the easy breezy Mondays in the world won’t make a difference at all.”

So, if Benito and Bobby are still out there, if every other Mr. Kid is still listening—and do not doubt every Mrs. Kid is watching—the question is also still there: What is your Townie Titan moment?

Mine was that Friday, and you may not believe this, but it was almost too easy.

I walked to that bus stop, and simply looked at them as if to say, “You don’t scare me.” Going into my classroom and taking my seat as I calmly looked around took care of itself. Lunch and the playground were hardly a bother, either. Sure, a few of them tried to continue the trouble all day, but it didn’t last long.

Don’t get me wrong, Willie and Chang. I made no trouble myself. There were no loud words, and there were no loud fights. When the trouble looked my way, it didn’t last long, because they knew they didn’t scare me.

Would it surprise you that a few of the troublemakers actually tried to make friends with me the following Monday?

But what if I did not have my Townie Titan moment and instead stayed home that Friday? Think of the following Monday for Mr. Kid. Some of the trouble would think nothing of it, but others would think they won, simply because I was too scared. Other kids may not notice, but still others who wanted to be my friend may think, “If he can’t stand up for himself, he won’t stand up for me.”

Dad reminded me that will include Mrs. Kid one day. My father and I often watch an old movie called The Bells of St Mary’s where Mr. Kid really takes a licking on the playground. Guess what every Mrs. Kid says to Mr. Kid after that whupping? You poor thing? Not! Their reaction was this: Why didn’t you fight back? Eventually, a nun—yes, a real nun—teaches this boy how to do that, and after a fair fight later, these two share ice cream together—two scoops, in fact!

Sammy and Santo, you know I’m not saying everyone needs boxing gloves, but I know you don’t get this yet. What is the point of my Townie Titan moment? Why bother with all this?

It’s a word, a single word Mr. Dad taught me. The word is Fortitude.

Let me ask Paolo and Pierre out there if you see two words in that one word. Look carefully, and don’t keep your ideas to yourself.

Do you the see the word Attitude, Nick? What about the word Fort, Nguyen? That’s it! That’s what my Townie Titan moment was all about!

When I returned to school that following day, I was determined to have a stronger attitude. An attitude like a fort. That’s what fortitude is!

Long ago, forts or castles served as defenses from attacking enemies. Our enemies are much different now, but we still need a defense, or fort to protect us from harm. Standing up and showing up is not causing trouble for the sake of trouble. It is protecting ourselves and those we love from trouble.

But here’s the thing, Tomas and Brent, and all of you Mr. Kids out there: Without the right attitude of love to defend what is right, the fort will never be built, and for that matter, the fort will never stand. In life, we must always build and defend, and build and defend, and once again, build and defend.

Yes, Jerry and Winston, that’s what this means: It’s not just one Townie Titan moment that you’ll need to stand up and show up for as long as you live. Even when Townie is over ninety years old, and his whole family is gone, and he finds himself in the care of others, there will be the attitude of a fort who will look his attendants in the eye, hands on hips, and even as a very old man’s faint whisper, will surely let them know, “You don’t scare me.”

What is your moment, Manuel and Morrie? What is yours, Yousef and Yaz?

Townie Titan showed Mr. Dad. Mr. Dad showed me.

And I showed my fears they were no match for Mr. Kid.