Tuesday, January 04, 2005
(5:43 PM) | Adam R:
Call Me Icepick
As a young boy I wanted desperately to be a pilot. I wanted my dad to be a pilot, too, but one who was shot down so that my friends and I could sneak into a hangar, steal a plane, and fly a rescue mission. I was heavily inspired by (I think) Iron Eagle. There was more to it than that, though. I also wanted to be called "Icepick."I rummaged through the basement for junk that would make a half-way decent flight simulator but I couldn't even find a usable turret system. Brian Fronczek, the closest neighbor, called me to play baseball in the corner lot but I declined, disappointed that he wouldn't help me in my pursuits.
Sometimes my brother, Aaron, and I would use my mother's old Mary Kay sample trays to dress up like Indians -- not the ones with the spices but the kind cowboys would shoot. The only problem was that with all the potential cowboys playing baseball, we became too savage. We cut down Doc Hoffman's tree limbs to make into bow and arrows.
Also, no one called me "Icepick."
Aaron and I stayed up late, wondering if garbage men made as much as lawyers. I said they did. Aaron was the one who taught me that 1,000,000 is greater than 1,000. We'd call each other on these toy phones we had running from room to room and conjecture about high paying jobs. Today Aaron lectures high schoolers about fiscal responsibility while I sell my CDs on eBay. My username is Icepick2005.
Sometimes I'd pretend I was torturing Aaron for information. I always said the same thing: "Tell me where's the gold!" I'd scream and pretend to punch his face. He always responded the same way -- by holding out for an appropriate time and then saying, "It's behind the waterfall." Except one time he said, "Why do you always torture me for gold?"
So I said, "What's the password!?" But we both knew it was EAGLEFORCE.
I don't know what crazy things I'd be thinking today if I had been allowed to watch Miami Vice with the other kids from church. I think I get the "Icepick" bit from a brief glimpse I was able to steal when the TV room was empty of adults. Icepick was a feared villain.
Instead I played tag with the younger kids. That's how I broke my arm and wound up spending three days in the hospital. That was heaven. I got so many toys! Even Brian Fronczek sent me a half-eaten pack of Bottle Caps, which is still one of my favorite kinds of candy.
To this day, when we're both home visiting our parents, Brian calls me from his house next door. Only he doesn't use the phone, he just goes to his window and hollers, "Adam!"
"Call me Icepick," I shout back.
