Episode 17: Tim shares a short story about a complaining llama, Doug, who hates the town waterslide. It seems that Doug hasn't read up much on enmeshment and narcissistic personality disorder. Dougie Downer, that's what he is. A Dougie Downer. (That's a very sophisticated play on the common term Debbie Downer.)
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Doug did, however, miss being the main attraction. Before there was a waterslide, the kids of the town would swim across the lake to see Doug. “How are you, Doug?” they’d say. “What’s going on?
“Oh, I’m bad,” Doug would say. “And it’s going bad.”
Doug’s favorite thing, even more favorite than complaining, was having an audience for his complaining. He could barely contain his excitement when he saw the kids swimming across the lake to him. It was all he could do to bring his face into a frown when they arrived. “How’s our favorite llama?” they’d say.
“Oh, I’m lonely,” Doug would respond. “You kids never want to come see me. You never come to spend time with me. I’m your least favorite llama.”
“We come see you all the time, Doug,” the kids would say. “And you’re the only llama we know. So you must be our favorite.”
Doug shrugged and turned away. “If I’m the only llama you know, that means I’m also your least favorite,” he said. “That’s probably why you never even call me.”
The kids laughed. “Aw, come on, Doug,” they said. “You don’t even have a phone. How can we call you if you don’t have a phone?”
“That’s just an excuse for why you don’t call,” Doug said, moping.
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If you enjoy westerns like True Grit or The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, check out Tim’s western novel, Dust, available on Amazon in eBook form in addition to being read on the podcast.
For other resources, visit timdrugan.com.