Rant #2,396: When I'm 63

Playing off that old Beatles tune, that "when" is today.

Happy birthday to me!

I made it to another year.

And when I eventually file for early retirement when my unemployment runs out, I will be another rung up the age ladder for Social Security.

That being what it is--my reality for the past nearly seven months--let me tell you a funny story that revolves around my birthday this year.

Yes, even with the coronavirus lurking around, there are still some funny stories to tell, and this is one of them.

As we all know, we are going through a pandemic of massive proportions, and it is hitting everybody every which way possible.

In very early March, when the rumblings of the disease were beginning to get louder, I decided to do something I had not done during my previous several months of unemployment, and that is, to pamper myself.

By that, I mean do something that someone in my situation generally doesn't do, which means I actually had the audacity to order an item through the mail that was not a necessity, that I really didn't need, and that if I was destitute, which I wasn't--I was desperate, quite a difference--I would never even think about.

I had the nerve to order a CD in the mail that I really wanted, and that had not come out yet: I pre-ordered "The Mike and Micky Show" Monkees live CD.

My family and I went to a couple of those shows that the two remaining Monkees--Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz--performed during the past few years, and the shows were fantastic. The two of them--well into their 70s--were both in good voice and good spirit, and through their own bumps in the road-Nesmith had a real mediccal scare that postponed one of the shows we eventually went to--theses were some of the most enjoyable concerts I have ever gone to.

Anyway, back to the CD--

So I pre-ordered the CD, which was not to come out until early April, and that was that.

When the time came for the CD to come out, many people received their CD in early April, and proudly talked about getting the CD and how good it was, and how, in a certain way, it was helping to get them through this pandemic. The press gave the CD, pretty much in unison, a hefty thumb's up, and the recording actually made the Billboard Top Albums chart, and some of the less important charts in that publication.

Anyway, I patiently waited, but I did not get my CD. This was even after the sending company and the U.S. Postal Service gave me a guaranteed date when it would arrive.

The days turned to weeks, and finally, I contacted the company that I paid money to get this CD, they kept on giving me another date to give it to, I checked the mailing information with the USPS and I kept on getting an "in transit to next stop" message.

But I still received nothing in the mail.

So I got fed up about two weeks ago, and I put a message up on Facebook that pretty much said how frustrated I was with not receiving the CD when others had received theirs.

Well, I was chastised by many people on Facebook, who took my message to be a political one, which it most definitely was not. Many said, to sum it up, that how dare I cry about a CD, the postal service is dealing with much more important mail, such as protective masks and other gear, that people really needed to combat this virus. Some said I was being selfish, and how dare I have the audacity to complain about such a menial thing in the face of what was going on.

Again, I was not trying to be political. They literally took what I said out of context ... and how many of the people who railed at me actually had the CD in their possession?

(Note: I put my story on one of the main Monkees Facebook sites, of which there are many, so I directed my frustration at the correct audience.)

Anyway, after people vented their own potshots at me, it suddenly opened the floodgates ... and other people said they were in the same boat as me.

We all understood what was going on, but we spent money on this item, and simply wanted to get it and enjoy it in the midst of this horror we were going through.

I contacted the sending company again after their newest deadline passed, and they said they would send another copy out to me.

In the meantime, received no apologies from anyone ... but I did receive some nice messages from people who knew exactly what I was going through. One person, in fact, said he had been in the same boat, complained to the sending company, and they re-mailed out another copy of the CD. He ended up having two copies, and wanted to send me his extra copy.

The cost to me? Nothing.

So, I effectively had three CDs somewhere in the system. The original one I ordered was acknowledged to be lost in the mail; the second was being re-sent by the mailing company; and the third one was being sent by a caring person who knew exactly what I was going through.

Well, late last week, to my surprise, I received the original CD that I had ordered. I told people about it on Facebook, and I got a rousing thumb's up from most people, many of whom were in the same boat as I was.

Then yesterday, we actually received two mail deliveries. In the first, in mid-morning, I received the CD that the caring individual sent me, and in the later mail delivery, I received the second CD that was re-sent to me.

So what's a poor boy to do with three CDs of exactly the same title?

I decided to "pay it forward," or back, or whatever you want to call it.

I put up a message on Facebook saying that I had one extra CD (yes, I had two, but I read on), and that I wanted to gift someone a copy free of charge, just like what somebody did to me.

I said in my message that there was one prerequisite for asking me for the CD: you had to be either out of work (like I am), or yo0u had to be a first responder (and a "first responder" I consider to be not only a doctor or nurse or health care worker, but also a postman, a sanitation worker, a bank teller, a grocery store employee, etc.).

I told people to Facebook message me--I do not want to blab about who is getting the CD--yes I have two, and what people don't know is that there will be two winners, not one--and I gave them until midnight to do so.

After writing this blog today and after doing my usual job search, I will see who has written to me, and sort out who the two winners are. I will ask for their addresses, and either today or tomorrow, I will send the winners their CDx.

Well, my newest post elicited some of the nicest comments I have ever received on Facebook--lord knows I have been raked through the coals on occasion--and it made me feel good to be "paying it forward" as had been done with me.

Let's see what happens.

(And if you are reading this, which you obviously are, and you are on these Monkees sites, please do not spill the beans that I actually am giving away two CDs, not one. Thanks.)

So I went from nothing to something to something more in a matter of days, from famine to feast, and I just thought it was so funny that all of this played out like it did.

And no, I haven't listened to the CD yet. I usually listen to music best when I am in my car, and I haven't been driving much recently, so I haven't had the opportunity to listen, but I will do it soon, and I expect it to be as much fun as having been there.

So happy birthday to me, and I will celebrate it by choosing to two people--probably one unemployed and one first responder--who will get the CDs.

And I have found there is nothing like giving, as well as receiving, on your birthday.

It makes this tortured soul feel really good inside ... it really does.