767 upvotes, 4 direct replies (showing 4)
View submission: I am Norm Macdonald, AMA.
Norm! You once recalled a story about when you were a very shy and very young boy and had to take your dad's friend (who was blind) to a store. The blind friend requested that you describe the world around him, what the grass was like, the street lights, etc. The friend was happy and loved that you were describing such things to him. You said for the first time this made you look outward at the world, not inward, and that you fell into a kind of hysteria, laughing uncontrollably. Another time you were talking to a homeless guy who was saying he knew John D. Rockefeller, was at John D. Rockefeller's funeral and all this insane stuff and again you fell deep into laughter.
I had a similar experience when I was a shy kid and stole a bag of candy from a drugstore. My mom found out and made me return it, and I couldn't stop laughing at the idea of bringing it back up to someone who worked there. On the way back I was in tears from laughing so much, my mom was actually a little worried. I had laughed so much it hurt, I had completely lost all control. I remember thinking about how I took this candy from someone else (in a way) and it wasn't for me, this world has other people who see and want things too. For whatever reason my reaction to that was to laugh, and in addition to being less self-absorbed and nervous, I found a lot of everyday things to be funny from that point on.
My question is, do those memories of the blind friend and homeless man still mean something to you? And do you think they have had an effect on the way you think about things now? I felt a kinship when I heard you tell those stories, they meant a lot to me and I wanted you to know that.
Comment by ImNormMacdonald at 13/05/2014 at 01:56 UTC
710 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I found that story you told me very moving. Well, there was a hysteria, I can't really remember it right now, maybe it's called Stendhal syndrome and I think there was someone named Stendahl, where he was overcome by the beauty of the artwork in his gallery and the world.
When I was young I used to be overcome by life, and I was overcome just now hearing your story, because that is quite a moving story about the candy. It quit gets to me, any how.
Comment by nodnodwinkwink at 13/05/2014 at 10:29 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is a good story.
Comment by [deleted] at 13/05/2014 at 04:35 UTC
0 upvotes, 0 direct replies
For what it's worth the store I pictured in my mind when I read the story of seeing the outside world by describing it to a blind man was the store I first stole candy from and my mom made me return it. Small world. For what it's worth.
Comment by de1vos at 13/05/2014 at 07:51 UTC
-1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
replying for reading later