Anything Happening

Have you ever happened to notice an old guy, perhaps sitting on a bench and out of the way, just minding his own business? Since he is obviously nearing the end of his time, do you wonder if perhaps he has lived an interesting life? Maybe he has met someone of great importance. Maybe he has traveled to strange and wonderful places. Maybe he has been present when something happened that changed the world. Maybe he has saved lives. Or maybe he has taken lives. So you ask him and he says, "No, not really." But when you turn to leave, he says, "Well, there was that one time . . . "
This is the tale of two such old guys, seen fishing off a pier in St. Petersburg, whose stories were there for the asking: their growing up years in the Vietnam Conflict era when the potential of death in adolescence years just seemed more familiar, and probably more acceptable, than decades later when the boomer generation's risks and challenges were generally confined to business dramas, and defeats did not usually involve death . . . usually.