Brothers and Friends

Being home is great. This seems to be a recurring Plot.
Traveling the world is fabulous. This also seems to be a recurring Plot.

Family is wonderful. This seems to be a recurring Plot.
Family is a pain in the booty. This also seems to be a recurring Plot.

So, which is it? Are they wonderful or do they drive you nuts? Should Plotnik go or stay?

In his youth, The Great Plotnik wanted his whole clan to be perfect, because he was. Now that he is as old as petrified wood, and has spotted imperfections in himself the size of Bette Middler's nose, Plotnik realizes his family does the best it can. The fool is the one who thinks they'll change, or that they should, or that he'd like it if they did. Imagine your brother or sister exactly like you. Two of you in one family? Please pass Plotnik the Kool Aid.

Never. Plotnik and Brother Shmeckl drinking strong, black coffee together with the cup half filled with blackberry syrup? Schmeckl and Plotnik moving to a high rise in a Saint Patooty suburb and adopting a crippled dog? Nah. Shmeckl and Plotnik are brothers, but...no.

On the other hand, friends are wonderful, but unless you are very, very lucky, friends can't go back with you to the beginning like your family can, like your brother and sister can.

Some people have friends who are like brothers. Some people have brothers who are like friends. But friends can't be brothers. Brothers might aggravate the Boopie out of you, but when the going gets rough, and friends discover they have their own lives and their own problems, brothers will be there with a smile and a pickup truck. Your problems will always be your brother's problems, as his are yours.

If you're lucky. Sometimes Plotnik isn't sure, either.

Sometimes he thinks it would be a lot easier to just fly away to Buenos Aires and let the whole stew simmer on its own. This also seems to be a recurring Plot.

But sometimes he figures his family needs him, that they value his opinion, that his outlook, though different than everyone else's, counts, and that everyone, in their heart, speaks Plotshk.

Then again, Plotnik also thought J.D. Drew might play the whole year.