rant · moment 8 of 17
Dennis and 'Life in the Big City'
from 164 - Life In The Big City · #164
8 min
An extended story about Dennis, a Vietnam vet who rented a room from Tim's mother, lost everything after his divorce, lived in a van, and had a signature nihilistic catchphrase ('life in the big city') for every disaster, including guns kept to shoot his friend's murderous son.
- Tim's mother rented rooms to drug dealers on Long Island, except for Dennis, an older Vietnam vet who barely had money and lived with contempt for the world.
- Dennis quit his job and moved into a van by the beach to avoid paying alimony after his divorce.
- Dennis ended up drinking wine from a Burger King cup with ice, smoking Marlboros, and nursing bitterness about his life.
- Dennis's catchphrase was 'life in the big city'—a dismissal he'd repeat whenever his situation got worse, from his kids refusing to see him to drug raids in the house.
- Dennis had ugly sayings Tim won't repeat, evidence of a man who'd lost everything and had nothing left to preserve.
- Dennis died clutching his chest on a fishing boat in his early sixties, exactly how he should have gone.
- Dennis kept guns under his bed in case someone broke in, though he'd likely be too drunk to use them effectively.
- After Tim's mother lost her house, Dennis moved into her van, parking it in his grandmother's driveway and giving life advice from there.
- Dennis moved in with another man whose son kept getting out of jail every three years and trying to kill both his father and Dennis.
- When that violent son got out again, Dennis said he'd kill him preemptively—a practical use of guns against neighbors, not tyranny.
- Tim notes Dennis wasn't defending against government overreach; he just wanted to shoot his roommate's homicidal son before the son could attack.