Everything Else Will Be Better

Word has traveled fast, I think, and those of you who knew Chuck Kallenbach will probably not be learning here that yesterday, he passed away. In particular, if you're still a Facebook user, you've probably seen dozens of tributes to him; he was one of those people who inspires that kind of positive outpouring.

I worked with him more than once, at different jobs and in different parts of the country. I played an unfathomable number of board games with him over the years. We traded opinions on movies all the time -- more recently continuing to do so online. He's the sort of person who, once they come into your life, never completely leaves it. And I think that's still going to hold true.

Since hearing the news of his passing, I've found myself thinking most about one particular moment in our past. We were talking about movies -- but not his personal list of the Top 100 Movies. No, the night before, he'd watched what he decided was the worst movie ever made. I regret that I cannot say with certainty whether it was Skidoo or (I'm pretty sure) a short film called 23 Skidoo.

That detail isn't as relevant as his reaction. Where other people (certainly me) would have gone on at length about how horrible the experience was, joking about "the time I'll never get back" (even 8 minutes, in the case of 23 Skidoo), Chuck took a different view: "Once you've seen the worst movie ever made, every other movie you ever see is going to be better." That was it -- don't dwell on what was bad; just move on and know the next thing will be better.

It should be obvious that I've been thinking about this so much in the last 24 hours because it's advice that's in no way particular to movies. I don't even think Chuck intended it as "advice," but then that too is the sort of person he was -- capable of just tossing out a deeply insightful thought like it was nothing.

I hope to carry that with me.