‘Jimmy Dunne Says’

‘Taking a Punch’

The Palisadian-Post presents an homage to Will Rogers’ column, “Will Rogers Says,” with a column by Palisadian Jimmy Dunne—on life in the “greatest town in America.”

I had a handful of summer interns working in one big room in an office.

All of them in their last couple years of college; one was smarter than the next.

One of them, just a sweetheart of a girl at the top of her class in law school at USC, ran into my office with tears running down her face. She dramatically said, “I can’t work here anymore. Alex just yelled at me.”

Alex was another one of the interns in the same big room; going into his senior year at Dartmouth.

I asked her to take a walk around the block with me.

On our walk, talking through her tears, she gave me the whole scoop. Alex was jealous of her because she’s in law school, and he just walked right up to her desk criticizing some work she did—pointing his finger at her.

She thought for sure I was going to tell her how he’s canned the second we walk back to the office.

I told her she needed to learn how to “take a punch.”

She looked at me like I was Satan.

“What?” she looked into my eyes, still with tears.

I told her a story about my dad.

He’d look us seven kids in the eyes to make sure we were doing one thing. Taking enough punches—and throwing enough punches.

He wasn’t talking about physical punches.

Life punches.

I told her how when my brother and I were little squirts, we got a “Bobo the Clown” for Christmas. We loved it.

It’s this life-size, blow-up clown that you’d punch—and it bounces right back again with a big, goofy smile on his face.

On Christmas morning, as we were slugging the thing like two idiots, my dad told us Bobo is like life.

How you want to take enough punches to toughen you up just enough—so that when life hits you with a big one, it doesn’t knock you off your feet.

My dad talked about how life sometimes hurts. Can hurt a lot. But how the joy of it all, the wonder of it all—makes it worth every minute.

I told the intern, “Here’s what I’d do. Go back in that office, and show him up with your smarts, great ideas and hard work. Be you. Be the fantastic, thrilling, absolutely one-of-a-kind you. That’s the best way to punch him right back.”

She laughed through her tears.

“I’ll do it,” she said. “I’m going to hit him where it hurts.” We both absolutely howled.

I was thinking about Bobo the last time I got a vaccine shot. Your body gets pricked with just enough poison—just to make sure you’re on your game in case a gang of God-knows-what comes knocking on your door.

Back to that wonderful intern.

She did just that. Crushed it that summer.

And she did my favorite thing interns would do. Got a great job with a great company—and she’s on fire, quickly working up the ladder as an attorney.

Every once in a while, she sends me a text.

“Got punched on a law case yesterday.” “I’m coming back swinging.”

“You go, Bobo.”

Jimmy Dunne is a modern-day Renaissance Man; a hit songwriter (28 million hit records), screenwriter/producer of hit television series, award-winning author, an entrepreneur—and a Palisadian “Citizen of the Year.” You can reach him at j@jimmydunne.com or jimmydunne.substack.com.