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The Value of Friendship

July 21, 2014 gabbert No Comments

The Value of Friendship

Sometimes we need a friend to redeem us. If we’ve made a mistake, let our dark side show, we can be paralyzed by humiliation. Our closest friends love us in spite of ourselves.

Jerry Seinfeld has a web show “Comedians in Cars having Coffee.” You can find it on Crackle. Each show is an interview of one of Jerry’s comedian friends. Although the show is not scripted, there are some truly funny lines. Even when they are more interesting than entertaining, the show makes me smile.

Remember Kramer on the Seinfeld show? Kramer was Seinfeld’s next door neighbor on the TV Sitcom. He was played by Michael Richards. One of Seinfeld’s episodes featured Richards.

After Seinfeld picks up Kramer for coffee, Kramer throws a bag into the car that holds his kit of disguises. He is concerned about going into a coffee shop undisguised. He put on a blond wig and sunglasses and is clearly anxious about being seen in public and encourages Seinfeld to do the same. Seinfeld has a great line “Oh Michael, free yourself, we’re just raindrops on a windshield.” Apparently, Seinfeld invited Richards on his show as a means to do just that – free himself.

Richards humiliated himself in public. He lost his temper in a comedy club in 2006 by hurling angry racist remarks at a man who was heckling him. It was an obscenity laced verbal attack against an African American man in the audience. Many people in the audience turned against Richard and walked out of the show. It sounds as if he quit working in comedy clubs after that.

Seinfeld offered Richards the opportunity to seek public forgiveness through the show. Richards says “I blew it in the comedy club and lost my temper. I was hurt because someone interrupted my act and said some things that hurt. I lashed out in anger. I busted up after that event; it broke me down. I should have just gone home and worked on my material.”

Richards he has more work to do on cultural sensitivity. And I hope he has undergone intensive anger management counseling. But he is still funny.

The interview closes with atonement and forgiveness. Seinfeld attempts to resolve his friend’s guilt and tries to redeem his career. Richards thanked Seinfeld for sticking by him and said “it still kicks me around a bit” (his shame). Seinfeld says “it’s up to you to say “I’ve been carrying this bag long enough. I’m gonna put it down.” Seinfeld encourages Richards to “use his instrument (talent) again, it’s a beautiful instrument.”

Seinfeld is a good friend. He knew his friend was wrong, but in spite of it he stood by him, gave him a platform to seek forgiveness, and gave him a venue to restore himself.

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