[Zoner]

Hands down, my favourite is from "No Cure For Cancer" by Denis Leary. he's talking about raising his son.

"It wasn't until I had a kid--after I got married and had my son--that's when I felt like I was doing this distorted I was taking all this stuff from my dad and I was filtering it down to my son. And I felt better all of a sudden.

And I know that's a cliche, that you change when you've got a kid. I also know it's the big fashion thing of the Nineties. "Here's my kid. He matches my couch."

But it's true. After you have a kid, there's a wave that washes over you. It might be two days later, it might be two weeks later, it might be two years later, but there comes a day, when you look down into that crib and go, "Oh, my God. Look at this. This cold-sober, empty little vessel . . . waiting to be filled up with ingredients . . . and it's up to me and my wife. We can fill him up with anything. Love. Or hate. Or indifference."

And that's when I realized, "Oh, my God. Now I know why I'm supposed to have a responsibility to the planet. Because I want him to have a better life." So that maybe--twenty-five years from now--there'll be a better world for him.

I don't get involved in stuff. I vote, but I don't get hands-on. And now I realized, I have to get hands-on. And try to change the planet. So that maybe--twenty-five years from now--he can live in a world without war. In a country without color. With clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. So that maybe--twenty-five years from now--he can turn to me and say, "You know something, dad? I really like this place." And I can say, "Well, son. I did my best."

Pause.

Denis clears his throat.

And other times, I think: Hey! Fuck him. "


Zone