Jimmy Buffett, Superstar!

I have thought about this for many years. Trying to figure out how Mr. Buffett became a superstar and the rest of us became ordinary people. My conclusion, I've haven't a clue. But I know one thing, it has to come from sheer determination. A do or die attitude. Either I make it or die trying.  Most of us don't possess that quality.  This is what brought our ancestors to a new world. It's a genetic thing. Either you have it or you don't. It's what causes people to jump out of airplanes for no good reason or to climb the the highest mountain. I don't think they give much conscious thought to why they are doing it, you just have to do it. And  it feels so good when you make it.  Call it human spirit or a need  to exceed.

Jimmy came from a humble background. But he had two working parents, which was unusual in the '50s.  My mother was a stay-at-home mom. My father was the bread winner and his wife was the mother of his children. Her job was to care for the offspring, no matter how many you had and how limited the resources were for maintaining the family. Jimmy's parents had only three kids, although the Catholic doctrine was to go forth and multiply no matter what. My parents bought into that completely and multiplied greatly.

So we get our determination from our ancestors. But money helps. The more money our  parents have, the more money for us, their offspring. But what about motivation? What's the drive to make you want to get out there and expose yourself and your ego to ridicule? What causes this, "I must do it, I must prove I am good enough, so you will love me?" This is my take on Jimmy. I may be totally wrong, but this is my observation during the time I knew Jimmy.

Jimmy was a good kid, a very obedient kid. Obedient to the level of fearful. To me, Jimmy's mother seemed to be a very nice lady. Jimmy's father was another story. His father was a naval architect. That's a person who designs water craft: boats, ships barges, etc.  Jimmy would always tell us that he was going to the U.S. Naval Academy. That he was going to become a naval officer. I guess that's what his father wanted him to be.

I remember when we would be playing baseball and you would hear this high pitched whistle. Jimmy would stop dead in his tracks, drop his glove and make a full speed run to his house. We would all just look at each other and ask, "What happened?" We soon learned that when Jimmy's daddy called or whistled the game was over.

One afternoon we were riding home on the school bus. From the back of the bus, I could hear Jimmy crying and his two sister trying to comfort him. I went to the back of the bus to see what was going on. I asked Jimmy what was wrong? He said that he had failed a math test and he was afraid his father would be angry and beat him. His sisters tried to reassure him that their father would do no such thing. But Jimmy keep saying, "He will, he will." I thought to myself, would his father really beat him for failing a math test?  Certainly not? My father would never do that. He loved me, no matter what I did or didn't do. I felt sorry for Jimmy if this was true.

Motivation has to be the key. The motivation from wanting to please someone. Wanting to show that you're not a failure. Wanting no matter what you wanted me to be, that I succeeded in spite of you. That's my theory. Take for what it's worth.