FREE ESSAY ON CALLAHAN CHRONICALS

CALLAHAN CHRONICALS

After reading the Callahan Chronicals I have come to realize 
that there are many things to be learned in life. This book captured 
my attention by trying to figure out just what it is that Spider Robinson 
is trying to pass on to the reader. I have come to the conclusion that 
the author is trying to portray real life situations with a little twist to 
keep the reader interested. There is a lesson to be learned from 
each story. Each visitor that passes through Mike Callahan's bar is 
teaching the people who are already there a lesson and there is 
much to be learned.
In the Centipede's Dilemma I learned that apperance really 
dosen't matter. Dink Fogerty led the whole bar to believe that he was 
incapable of even throwing a dart but then he, dispite his image, used 
telekinesis (mind over matter) to project the darts into the dartboard 
with tremendus accuracy. You cannot just sleep on your opponents 
in real life situations. You must look beyond your opponents 
apparent capabilities to be a contender in any game, espically the 
game of life. If you don't you will surely get stepped on throughout 
your life. If the people at Callahan's didn't catch on to Dink's attribute 
then he would have walked out of that place knowing that he screwed 
over the entire bar. I have learned to look for things like this now and 
will not get decieved eaisly in my lifetime. Fogerty wasn't all that bad 
though, any bird that can keep their glass filled with gin all the time 
would be a good companion for mostly anyone.
Just Dessert was a good story on how people do not like to be 
made a fool of. This story's focus was on practical jokers. The 
message I received from this writing was that people don't like 
practical jokers even if their motifs are just for fun. You also must be 
careful because that joke can turn foul and hit you right back in the 
face. That is exactly what happened to the men who tried to pull one 
over on Mike and the Doc. The men planned to drink heavily and pull 
the old fake vomit gag. This one was more complex though because 
the guy who puked had his two friends dig into the gross mess with 
spoons to sicken the crowd. The vomit was just beef stew to make it 
look real. The funny part is that the Doc slipped some serum of 
ipecac into the stew before the man's friends dug in. Who do you 
think got the last laugh in the end? Well, I know for sure that the 
jokers will not be playing that gag again in the future. This goes for 
me as well. I will not be playing any joke like that in the future 
because now I can see what possible outcomes there can be. I 
wouldn't like it done to me so I will stick to the golden rule.
When the tall guy with the eyes walked through Callahan's door 
there was a feeling of uncertainty among Jake Stonebender. He 
had seen a man like this before and he ended up blasting four men 
with a gun. To make a long story short this guy was sent by his 
master to destroy the world but he had a conscience and couldn't 
kill everyone. Mickey Finn realized that love and feelings do exist 
among humans and he couldn't destroy them. He let everyone 
know that all they had to do was kill him and they would all be saved. 
The people at Callahan's did no such thing though. They got him 
trashed instead and talked it through. They even dragged him to the 
back room where Mike keeps a cot and laid him down to sleep. This 
taught me that it is best to talk things out in a bad situation. All you 
have to do in certain situations is kill them with kindness.
There was a guy in this book who possessed fivesight. It is 
when you can see things that are going to happen in the future. 
Unfortunately for this guy he could only see the bad things that were 
going to happen. He married a women and that same women ended 
up at Callahan's place telling the story of her husband. It seemed like 
the man with fivesight could prevent bad things that are going to 
happen but he couldn't. He could only make them better by 
preparing for it. He always said he was not permitted by whomever 
sends him the messages to prevent anything. The couple had a kid. 
That boy was killed on his way home from school when a tractor 
trailer hit the school bus he was on. The women asked why he did 
not try to save him. He was just living by his own rules and he could 
not change. I guess you shouldn't ask for something that is worse for 
you in the long run.
In Dog Day Evening a scrubby guy walked into Callahan's with 
a well trained German shepherd. He soon made a bet to all the 
people at Callahan's that his dog could talk. They all accepted the 
bet for two hundred dollars. They were all ready for a prank since 
there was serious money on the line. The guy with the dog had a full 
beard and they suspected that he might be a ventriloquist. The man 
and the dog won the bet and the dog really could talk. The funny 
thing was that the man was a mute and the whole time the dog was 
doing the talking. The people at Callahan's thought that it was pretty 
cool even though they lost money. Mike felt bad for the since they 
were so nice about everything and nobody ever gave them a 
chance. All they knew was how to hustle for money. Mike Callahan 
offered to get the dog a job on the radio and the guy a job working 
with computers. I learned from this that it is good to help good people 
even if they play you for some cash. I also learned not to bet 
because anything is possible if a dog can talk.
In Have You Heard The One it was tall tales night at Callahan's. 
Jake told a story about how her was not superstitious. In his story he 
asked god for a sign to know if something bad was going to happen 
to him. Sure enough a bird ended up falling dead on the hood of his 
car. If that is not a sign I don't know what is. This story opened my 
mind to the possibility of the supernatural. I know this book is not for 
real but it opened a door for the possibility of something larger than 
life. That is the main thing that I received from the story from the 
Callahan Chronicals.
After reading this book I have learned many things. There are 
things in life that you must be ready for and I think that this book 
helped open some windows for me to prepare for the worst and hope 
for the best. The Callahan Chronicals is a great way to learn about 
life in a relatively enjoyable way.