UNCLE RICO (Part 2 of 7) “Ooooh, man I wish I could go back in time. I’d take state,” reminisces Uncle Rico. When i look at Uncle Rico i tend to say, “Wow i’m glad i’m not that guy.” He’s stuck on the past. His polyester clothes are from a bygone decade. His hairdo is from another era. Worse, he hasn’t moved past his glory days of football. For goodness sakes, he and Kip made an online purchase of a time machine! But check this out. Even while not learning to outlive those memories, he still tries to reinvent himself. Although he carries his baggage with him, he learns to adapt to new environments. We can easily say environment is Uncle Rico’s path to reinvention. Adapting to one’s environment is key to the reinvention process. We encounter Uncle Rico living out of a van in the middle of a field. His game of life has resulted in constant stalemate. Metaphorically speaking, Uncle Rico stuffs himself inside the suitcase that carries all his past baggage and ships himself in it to his destinations of life.  Seems like he’ll never get over his athletic days. Still, a great quality about Uncle Rico is that he understands responsibility. He knows a good job and money can improve his life. He takes on little more than he bargained for by agreeing to babysit his 32-year-old nephew and his younger brother while their grandmother is in the hospital.  Uncle Rico teams up with Kip to pursue a new venture…business. This is a result of his current situation in a new environment. For example: Uncle Rico: We also need some way to make us look official, like we got all the answers. Kip: How bout some gold bracelets? Uncle Rico: We need like some name tags with our picture on it, all laminated and what not. I mean, we gotta look legit man. Kip: That’s true, that’s true. They team up to make some quick cash. Quick cash seems to be a motivator for Uncle Rico. Perhaps he sees the lack of money withholding him from happiness. The faster he earns the money the quicker his happiness. In the end, Uncle Rico is a creative businessman who loves to take risks but not risky enough to allow himself an opportunity to move into a new him.  He knows his limitations within his environment. He’s up for adventure but not one that will venture beyond him. His conservative reinvention limits his full potential. Unfortunately his reinvention loops back so quickly that he ends up nearly where he started - tossing a football outside of his van in the middle of nowhere.  But the key word here is “nearly”. His girlfriend rides up to his van on a bicycle. She re-enters his environment. Here again his environment shifts. Another journey into reinvention begins. From what we know of Uncle Rico, whether her arrival is good for him or not is that he’ll make lemons out of lemonade. (To Be Continued with Kip)

UNCLE RICO

(Part 2 of 7)

“Ooooh, man I wish I could go back in time. I’d take state,” reminisces Uncle Rico. When i look at Uncle Rico i tend to say, “Wow i’m glad i’m not that guy.” He’s stuck on the past. His polyester clothes are from a bygone decade. His hairdo is from another era. Worse, he hasn’t moved past his glory days of football. For goodness sakes, he and Kip made an online purchase of a time machine! But check this out. Even while not learning to outlive those memories, he still tries to reinvent himself. Although he carries his baggage with him, he learns to adapt to new environments. We can easily say environment is Uncle Rico’s path to reinvention.

Adapting to one’s environment is key to the reinvention process. We encounter Uncle Rico living out of a van in the middle of a field. His game of life has resulted in constant stalemate. Metaphorically speaking, Uncle Rico stuffs himself inside the suitcase that carries all his past baggage and ships himself in it to his destinations of life. 

Seems like he’ll never get over his athletic days. Still, a great quality about Uncle Rico is that he understands responsibility. He knows a good job and money can improve his life. He takes on little more than he bargained for by agreeing to babysit his 32-year-old nephew and his younger brother while their grandmother is in the hospital. 

Uncle Rico teams up with Kip to pursue a new venture…business. This is a result of his current situation in a new environment. For example:

Uncle Rico: We also need some way to make us look official, like we got all the answers.

Kip: How bout some gold bracelets?

Uncle Rico: We need like some name tags with our picture on it, all laminated and what not. I mean, we gotta look legit man.

Kip: That’s true, that’s true.

They team up to make some quick cash. Quick cash seems to be a motivator for Uncle Rico. Perhaps he sees the lack of money withholding him from happiness. The faster he earns the money the quicker his happiness. In the end, Uncle Rico is a creative businessman who loves to take risks but not risky enough to allow himself an opportunity to move into a new him. 

He knows his limitations within his environment. He’s up for adventure but not one that will venture beyond him. His conservative reinvention limits his full potential. Unfortunately his reinvention loops back so quickly that he ends up nearly where he started - tossing a football outside of his van in the middle of nowhere. 

But the key word here is “nearly”. His girlfriend rides up to his van on a bicycle. She re-enters his environment. Here again his environment shifts. Another journey into reinvention begins. From what we know of Uncle Rico, whether her arrival is good for him or not is that he’ll make lemons out of lemonade.

(To Be Continued with Kip)


10 months ago