Going to the Mattresses

Forty years ago when my oldest son was four, he got really upset about something.  I can’t remember what it was that made him so mad — what I do remember is that he went into his bedroom, sat down on his bed and started bouncing up and down like crazy.   When I asked what he was doing, he replied, “Bouncing my mad away.”  When the mobsters in the Godfather talked about “going to the mattresses”, it involved weapons and a lot of people got killed.  It wouldn’t have made a very interesting book or movie I guess — but what if instead, they had utilized the mattresses in the same way that my son did?  Come to think of it, maybe this wouldn’t be a bad idea for world leaders to employ to help solve tension and anger between countries.  Beats the heck out of going to war.