#4: Through the Open Shield
You can read the original text version of this story here.
Baltimore, Maryland | 1992 to 1993 | By TOM D’ANTONI
“I played the kill-me game. I would pick up anyone. I picked up every criminal I could find. Baltimore was a racist town, probably still is, and the hatred went both ways. I was the fish and the cab was the barrel.”
Tom D’Antoni is a writer, documentary producer, TV producer/reporter, and radio personality living in Portland, Oregon. His humor book, Rabid Nun Infects Entire Convent and Other Sensational Stories from a Tabloid Writer, was published by Random House last year.
Music courtesy of Eau Forte (”Miss Sweety’s Smile,” “Emillia Part 2,” and “Interlude Symbiosis,” Jamendo), David Auburn (”Cellules Sound,” Jamendo), and Vinc2 (”Death of Nature,” “Son’s Last Word,” and “Automne,” Jamendo).
Posted by Common Ties on Monday, September 10th, 2007 | Email This PostThis entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 12:04 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
7 Responses to “#4: Through the Open Shield”
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September 11th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
your story moved me so much!! It is so similar to my own (just yesterday I was thinking
that in only 6 months I screwed up my whole life) & I keep planning my suicide but
I am passive agressive about that too. I also understand 100% your rage & feelings
of who gives a shit!!! And that little girl…wow.
-Paula
September 11th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Tom, your life seems like movie material!
September 12th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Love is every bit as contagious as savagery. Keep passing that love on. Thanks for a great story!
September 12th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Beautifully written and read. I really enjoyed that.
September 13th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Really nice story. I think I have met that angel before. Around the same time period in the DC area. I had recently broke up with a boyfriend, feeling unsatisfied with work and just feeling down on myself about my appearance. One day I was out running and the your not good enough your not pretty enough voices were drumming. I was looking down at the ground and then looked up when I heard a childs voice say, ” you are so beautiful” In front of me was a young black girl, maybe 5 or 6 years old. I was taken aback, but laughed and said, “thanks, you’re pretty too.” I kept running a few paces, smiling to myself thinking how sweet and what good timing - I turned back to look at her, and she was gone. In the area I was running, you would still see anyone that you had just passed moments before.
I only tell that story whenever the topic of, “do you believe in angels” comes up. Her face, her clothes, her smile and her words are burned in my mind.
September 28th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Wow!!!! I don\’t have words that convey the complexity of emotion I\’m feeling after hearing your story. I will listen to it many more times.
Thank you….Thank you…..Thank you
December 16th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Thank you for this story,I read the full text and then listened to your story and man are they powerful.I too have battled depression,especially when I lived in Ca,my first marriage had failed and I was driveing a cab,when a little girl handed me a flower and said thank you for the ride.My day was made,thrue the eyes of a child the world is a great place.Mike G.