“Waiting for Bobot”
A Parody of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot
By Bob Ramsdell
Samuel Beckett was an author of many plays, books, prose etc. and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature at one time. He was described as a modernist and often wrote in what was called “The Theater of the Absurd”. (Note: Godot and Bobot are pronounced as God oh and Bob oh).
Act One
Three men wearing dark suits buttoned up but with no tie are sitting on their suitcases along a lonely country road. I will refer to character 1, 2 and 3 as “No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3” in the script
No, 1 I wonder when he’s going to show up, he’s already 2 days late.
No. 2 I’m getting hungry and tired of peanut butter sandwiches.
No. 3 If we had a card table so we could play cards.
No. 2 ------But I don’t know how to play cards!
No. 1 Was he on that bus that just went by?
No. 2 Do either of you guys know where we are? It sure would be nice if
we had a GPS unit.
No. 3 I’m getting tired of waiting, do you think we should leave?
No. 2 We could pin a note on a tree but there aren’t any trees here.
No. 3 It’s going to get dark soon, did either of you guys bring a lantern?
No. 1 I did, but I don’t have any matches. I suppose that means I won't be able to read any books I have in my suitcase.
No. 2 It is getting pretty dark now so…..(as the stage lights go down)
……..Good Night……..Good Night……Good Night.
Act II, Scene 1
The sun is coming up revealing the three men asleep on their suitcases along the deserted country road.
No 1 (yawning) That was a refreshing sleep!
No 2. What are we having for breakfast?
No. 1 We have three peanut butter sandwiches left.
No. 3 How will we divide them?
No. 2 You guys have them. I’m tired of peanut butter sandwiches. I’ll just have some gum.
No. 1 I didn’t know there was any gum, how come you didn’t offer us any?
No. 2 I wanted to know there was enough until Bobot gets here.
No 3 It’s going to get hot pretty soon. I wish I had brought an umbrella.
No. 2 I had an umbrella once when I lived in London, but it blew away in a high wind.
No. 1 Is that a bus or an 18 wheeler coming towards us. (all three look down the road to the south until…….)
No 2 No, it’s only a mirage.
No. 3 I think if it had been a bus, I think I would have gotten on it and
sent a letter to Bobot saying “Having a wonderful time, wish you
were here!”
No. 1 The road seems to be getting quite hot. Did you notice that
rattlesnake start across and quickly turn around and slither back into the shade?
No. 3 (looking north) Here comes another mirage! No. It’s a taco wagon, flag him down!
No. 1 Senor, tres tacos y tres cervesas, por favor. Seis dolares? Tarjeto de credito? Gracias, Senor.
No 3 (as taco wagon leaves) I didn’t know you could speak Spanish.
No. 1 I can’t. I saw this exact conversation on Telemundo a week ago.
No 2 (after eating) Wow, that tasted good! I’m going to eat tacos instead
of peanut butter sandwiches for the rest of my life.
Act II, Scene II
All three are having a nap on their suitcases.
No. 1 (yawning and stretching looks up the road to the north) Wake up!,
there's a man walking this way!
No. 3 (as stranger walks up to them) Are you Bodot?
Stranger: No, my name is Godot. He then walks down the road toward the south.
Everything seems so futile for these three men. What will happen to them? Will Bobot ever show up? Will they be picked up by an itinerant farmer family on their way to California to pick fruit? Will Bill Gates come by in stretch limo and make them all vice presidents of Microsoft. Will an insane asylum take them back to their hospital.
Tune in this fall season at 8 PM/9 PM Central after CSI New York.
FIN
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
An Encounter with Big Foot?
When my son Brian was 10 months old, we decided to take our vacation in our newly acquired folding tent trailer that I bought from a next door neighbor. We had always liked the coast so we headed for Patrick’s Point State Park north of Eureka. When we got there, it was fogged in and a park ranger suggested Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park a few miles north. It was in a deep canyon and when we finally got there, there was a nice circular level campground and we set up the tent trailer for the first time. We were the only campers which was nice. It had two folding queen sized platforms on each side of an aisle. We set up our sleeping bag on one side and little Brian, in his bag, had the whole queen sized bed to himself.
Later, about dinner time, we heard the roar of some motorcycles coming down and to our dismay, a bunch of “Hell’s Angels” type, complete with leather jackets with painted pictures on the back, settled in across the road from us and started getting drunk. We almost decided to pack up and move on when a county sheriff’s car came by, slowed down and looked at the “Angels”. He went around the campground a few times, slowing down each time and the “Angels” finally got the idea and left. The sheriff came back and told us we would be O.K. now.
We went to bed and were awakened once in a while by loud screeches and breaking of twigs. About 2 AM, I heard a noise and looked toward Brian and he was gone! I rushed out the door and found him hanging by one hand with his thumb in his mouth and feet 10” from the ground. He had fallen out between the canvas top and plywood platform.
In the morning, we had breakfast and, while Lorrie was getting ready to leave, I decided to take him, in a Gerry Carrier backpack around a circular trail through the woods varying from 30’ to 50’ above the campground floor.
I began hearing twigs crackling and figured it was a deer until Brian all of a sudden said “Hi” which made my hair stand on end. I started whistling and walking faster. After covering a 100’ or so, I heard Brian say “Bye, Bye”!
I don’t even want to think about what it was that he saw and we finished packing and got out of there.
Barnstormer
In the mid 20’s, there were lot of barnstormers around the country who had been pilots in World War I. The only one to come to Live Oak landed in our field one day. My dad didn’t have anything planted there and there was plenty of room between our house and Highway 99. The pilot came over the house and asked my dad if he could use the field to sell rides to town’s people who started to arrive in cars or walking to see what was going on. We lived about a half mile from downtown.
His plane was an old two seated biplane like a “Jenny”. The pilot was handsome in his goggles with a sheep skinned leather jacket. People lined up with their $5 in their hands for the 20 minute ride over the town and surrounding area.
Later in the afternoon, when he was about to leave, he asked my brother, Donald, if he would like to go up and, naturally, he accepted. Donald got into the front seat and they got going. The motor roared, the dust blew and after bouncing over the field, they were air borne.
They climbed up pretty high and the pilot who had worn the sheep skinned leather coat earlier, decided to take it off. He put his “Joystick” between his knees to control the plane. He almost had it off when he hit an “air pocket”. He lost control of the plane struggling to get rid of the coat. The plane wobbled, lost elevation and it was a terrifying moment for Donald until control was re-established.
Donald, of course, had told me this story since I wasn’t born until 1930. My other brother and sisters had seen it happen but I could only listen to the story.
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