The One With The Lesson From Groundhog Day

Bill Murray as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day



Dave sez, You've seen Groundhog Day, right? Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliot and the incredible Stephen Tobolowsky as the one, the only, the man, the myth, the legendary Ned Ryserson. If you have not seen the movie, go watch it right now and then come back and continue reading.

I'll wait right here...

Now? Okay. I'm going to just assume you've seen or just watched Groundhog Day. Bill Murray as Pittsburgh meteorologist Phil Connors sent to cover the annual Punxsutawney Phil groundhog event. As we know, Phil is a bit of a jerk. No one likes Phil. Phil doesn't like anyone. Phil doesn't want to cover the annual Groundhog Day event. But he goes and gets stuck in a time loop. He runs the whole gamut of reactions. There is one part that comes to mind. At one point, Phil ends up sitting on a park bench outside the bank. There's an armored car with a old guard making a delivery to the bank. Phil starts rattling off what happens and what people say before they say it. In a really dry, monotonous voice. (I was looking for a video of the scene on YouTube, but all they have is a behind the scenes making of video.)

We have gotten into a routine here, where we get up and we go out to the orphanage. Cathy and I want to spend time with Masha while we wait for our court date. There really isn't much else to do, what with the climate of the country and what's going on. We want and need to be careful. We walk down the hill to the Square, we go down into Maidan station, we get on the subway, we get off the train at Holosiivska, we go up to the street, we wait for the bus. It's on the corner at Holosiivska station where I hear Phil's voice. "Number 12 bus. Number 801. Number 416. Number 444. Two Number 53's pull up behind the one on break. And here's the 507."

You've probably heard that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. That's the lesson in futility from Groundhog Day. Doing the same thing over and over doesn't change the results. I am finding that there is another, more important lesson in there, too. Phil spends an awful lot of time doing different things throwing off all the rules. He gets to the point where he says, What the heck? Might as well. So, that tells me that doing the wrong things and expecting that things are going to work out and go your way doesn't work either. You only have to figure out the one right thing you have to keep doing, and then everything falls into place and clicks together.

Maybe it's sappy and corny that Phil went from being an unlikeable jerk, to being a happy guy.

 

Cathy and I have a lot of time while we're waiting through our process here. It's a good thing. Doesn't mean I'll be playing a musical instrument any time soon...

 

We hope to hear something soon about our court date. We have not heard anything yet, but we are still praying for a Tuesday court date. We are hopeful.