lessons learned, movies, poor judgment, true crime, TV, YouTube

Repost: Sage advice from DC Cab– “That which makes you can also break you…” and “Don’t let your dick run your life.”

I just ran across this post I wrote for my original blog on November 14, 2018. I am reposting it today, as/is, as I think about what today’s fresh content will be about.

Many years ago, for the very first time, I watched a comedy film starring Mr. T.  The film, which was made in 1983, was called D.C. Cab, and it was about a group of misfit cab drivers in Washington, D.C.  It was a mostly forgettable movie, but it did have a few funny lines in it.  For that reason alone, I bought it on DVD and still watch it when I need a cheap laugh.  One of my favorite lines in D.C. Cab comes at the very beginning.  The late actor Whitman Mayo, who plays a character called “Mr. Rhythm”, says to the camera, “Don’t let your dick run your life.”

Sage advice from Mr. Rhythm, and cheap, too!

This topic comes up after I spent about an hour yesterday watching videos on YouTube starring Chris Hansen of “To Catch a Predator” fame.  I remember back in 2007, when Bill was in Iraq, sitting at home on weekday evenings watching Hansen busting would be perverts who were caught trying to meet teenaged girls they met on the Internet.  These guys were chatting and sending dick pics to people they thought were young girls, but were actually young looking police officers posing as teens.

A few months later, Bill and I moved to Germany the first time, and I lost track of Hansen’s show, which I think was eventually canceled.  But then yesterday, I discovered that Hansen was back with a newer show called Hansen vs. Predator, which aired in 2016.  Someone uploaded a bunch of videos from that show on YouTube.  Below is the first one I encountered.

32 year old math tutor Mike Manzi, who goes by the handle “Mike Thrilla” online, arrives at a house intending to “chill out” with a thirteen year old girl while he smokes marijuana.  Instead, he meets Chris Hansen and gets busted.  Then, amazingly enough, he argues with Hansen when Hansen tells him who he is.

Before he visits the “girl”, Manzi admits that he shouldn’t be talking to her.  He has suspicions that he could be walking into a trap.  And yet, he takes the risk anyway… obviously not having seen D.C. Cab and heard Mr. Rhythm’s excellent advice.  Hansen asks Manzi what he’s doing at the girl’s house, and Manzi claims he came over just to make sure “everything was okay.”  Yeah… I don’t think so.  Don’t let your dick run your life, buddy.

Mr. Rhythm also says “That what makes you can also break you.”  Given that the origin of life is at the end of a man’s penis, I think that’s also good advice.  After all, without a man’s contribution, a woman can’t get pregnant.  So don’t let your dick run– or ruin– your life.

Contrary to his big plans for the day, Mr. Manzi doesn’t spend the afternoon smoking weed with a young girl.  He begs Hansen to let him go.  Hansen says “no” and Manzi goes to jail.  But he’s not the only one who gets caught in Hansen’s web.

Here’s a guy from Boston who brings pizza to meet a 13 year old girl… and offers Hansen a slice just before Hansen drops the hammer.

I sat there yesterday and thought to myself that the sex drive in some men must be extremely irresistible if they’re taking these kinds of chances.  Obviously, these dudes have seen Chris Hansen on TV.  They know what’s going to happen if they run into Chris Hansen.  And yet, when they are trapped in Hansen’s clutches, they try to wriggle out of them in a most pathetic way.  If only they’d listened to Mr. Rhythm.  His advice is so good.  

Come to think of it, Mr. T.’s speech is worth listening to, as well.  Dignity, self-respect, and pride… all well worth maintaining.  And if you’re chatting with adolescents on the Internet with the intention of getting busy with them, you have no dignity, self-respect, pride, decency, pot, or pizza…  What you have is a criminal record and public humiliation as you get publicly busted on primetime TV and/or YouTube.

Adults, male or female, have no business “chatting up” teenagers on the Internet, particularly when it comes to anything sexual.  And they have no business going to a child’s house in search of companionship or to make sure they’re “okay”, especially after they’ve been caught having explicit chats with them online.  

Here’s Jesse Velez, 28 years old, and looking for companionship with a boy he thought had only just turned 13, but was actually a young looking 19 year old actor.  Velez had actually been chatting with Lori, a police officer.  When Hansen confronts Velez about sending the “boy” a picture of his private parts, the guy tries to deny it.  How embarrassing!

I’m glad all three of these guys were busted and didn’t actually harm anyone.  I don’t envy today’s parents.  I’m sure it must be a challenge to constantly monitor their children’s Internet activity, as well as the adults with whom they come into contact.  On the other hand, there was no Internet during my childhood and I still managed to run into a pervert.  

I guess it just goes to show that it pays to be vigilant, and make sure you’re thinking with the right head.  If you let your dick run your life, you may find it impossible to talk your way out of the mess.  So remember Mr. Rhythm whenever you get the urge to make rhythm with someone inappropriate.  Remember, that what makes you can also break you. 

Fresh for 2021: I might have to watch DC Cab today… It’s a good one.

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