Vess Barnes III
nearly made a fatal mistake during his initiation as a Worthless Bastard.
After sitting for an hour with 2 other Bastards at a sidewalk cafe, Vess asked,
“So what are we going to do next?”
After an awkward silence, President Plenipotentiary Tom Grimes pointed to
another sidewalk cafe about 50 yards away. “Do you see those tables down there?”
Vess answered, “Yes.”
“Well, after we sit here awhile longer
we're going to walk down there and sit for awhile.”
Worthless Bastards are highly productive, intelligent people who are extremely busy.
The entire point of a Worthless Bastard meeting is to end the day having accomplished nothing. Anyone who tries to talk about business is thrown out of the group. There is never a schedule, an agenda, or a plan. Discussions tend toward art, literature, funny stories and food. At the end of the day, having attempted nothing memorable, productive or worthwhile, members can say, “Today I have been a worthless bastard.”
January 29, 2005.
Vess came to the campus the day we
poured the foundation for Chapel Dulcinea.
With him are Steve from Australia and my partners
Jane and Scott Fraser of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In her spare time, Jane is a competitive equestrian of some renown.
She has the potential to be worthless, though it's never been developed.
Scott teaches the Young Writer's Workshop with Peter Nevland.
Scott has real value. I'm not sure he could ever be completely worthless for a day. Perhaps we'll soon find out .