I loved being a kid. It was easy. I realize everybody didn't have the same experience I did but it made me who I am today. I walk around my neighborhood, whether it's New York or LA and everybody says hi. It wasn't always that way. Brooklyn is not Manhattan and LA was another planet. I found however when you start speaking Brooklyn to people, with a little practice they start speaking Brooklyn. I relied on two things -  sarcastic wit, developed as a result of having served sixteen years at various Catholic institutions, run primarily by nuns and Jesuit priests and a football, which was standard equipment for any kid growing up in Flatbush in the 1960's and 70's. Two hand touch, four downs, five Mississippi rush, sewer to sewer. Simple. The problems start when people come in and start making life complicated.