TASK #14

April 1st--April 8th

Put The Wood To It

Non-violence is fine as long as it works.   Malcolm X

There ain't anything a man does better than breaking stuff. I have personally broken every kind of man-made object there is to break. I have broken toys--mine and other kid's--eyeglasses, dozens of water glasses, eye glasses and picture window glass; i've cracked coffee cups, LPs, cds, dvds, watches, computers, sugar/cereal/pasta bowls, and most of my mom's china when I cheaped out and decided NOT to have it professionally packed and shipped, opting instead to wrap it myself in newspaper and send it to California from Ohio in a cardboard box. 

Now, much of the above was done unintentionally, but on occasion I like to break things on purpose, especially if I'm pissed about something. It makes me feel good.

It's spontaneous most of the time. I mean I get angry and I start hitting the dashboard, the walls, the pillow, the floor, etc. Never a person. But something. Or I kick. I kicked a tv when the Buckeyes lost a football game. I kicked a refrigerator when I found out that a girl was cheating on me. 

Sometimes I've hurt my knuckles or my toes. And once I put a hole in some drywall. Not mine, thankfully.

But I've recently come upon a better way to vent my anger. No, not seeing a therapist. I bash things. 

TASK:

Scrape together 20 bucks. Go to your nearest thrift store, Goodwill or Salvation Army Center. Buy an assortment of stuff to whack, i.e. candy dishes, ashtrays, salt and pepper shakers, old toys, a cake plate or soup bowl, or just by a stack of old record albums, and old side chair or kid's dresser or a coffee table. 

Bring the items to a secluded place--maybe a yard or basement or clearing in the woods. Stand over the pile with your bat or other instrument of destruction, put on safety glasses if available, think about someone/something that's bothering you--I always conjour up the image of this guy who I worked with, who I hated with a passion--then let fly. Become a smashing machine.

Take a picture of the mess. Clean up when you're finished.

Two rules: you can't hit a person, or an animal; and you can't smash something that's owned by someone else. 

Write down who it is, or what it is, that you hate. 

If you like, e-mail me the picture: joedoebula@gmail.com