Occupation, Foole!

When my brother and I were in junior high school (very late 70s), my mom gave us a bunch of 8-tracks that she had picked up from a garage sale. We had Pieces of Eight and The Grand Illusion by Styx, Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin, and Occupation Foole, by George Carlin. I'm sure that she had no idea what she had given us, but I can say that even today, it was one of the best gifts ever!!!

Johnny and I would listen to George Carlin over and over and over, and we would just split our guts laughing! Carlin's humor back then was PERFECT for junior high kids.

A few years later (early 80s), Johnny and I were sitting on the couch in our living room, watching one of George Carlin's HBO specials. We were laughing and splitting our sides again, and just as George went into his list of dirty words (there were much more than seven!), my dad came home and walked through the living room. It took him all of two seconds to catch on to the words, and boy did he have a fit! He promptly turned off the TV, and that was it for George for awhile.

Once I was out of my dad's house (late 80s), Carlin was no longer taboo. He was just as funny as ever, but his humor was more relevant and had more of a bite to it. It was PERFECT for young adults struggling to figure out what to do with their lives.

Carlin's humor continued to resonate with my life through the 90s and into the 00s. His dark and acerbic comedy helped give voice to my frustration with politics, war and religion. His death today leaves a hole in my life, as well of the lives of countless others.

George Carlin, 1937-2008