Showbiz Sharp when necessary, mild when possible… With the same passion with which he makes his case, top lawyer Walter Damen (52) comments in ‘Dag Allemaal’ what concerns him and you.
Admittedly, my last two columns were not the happiest. Realistic? Yes, but hopeful? No. But at that time I had not yet seen Kamal Kharmach’s end-of-year conference because a planned trip to London was boycotted due to travel issues. Mine turned out to be no longer valid, so I had to leave later. To make matters worse, the Eurostar tunnels turned out to be flooded on the way back.
Kamal as weatherman?
But back to Kamal. Kamal and I know each other from previous meetings, which, to be clear, did not take place in a criminal context. The decor consisted of a gigantic submarine, which suddenly made it seem as if a visionary was on stage. Whether Kamal applied to be a weatherman, that is also possible. Anyway, that submarine had come in handy getting back from London during the very wet start to the new year.
I have to be honest, I thought Kamal was very funny. Even though I’m not much of a loud laugher, he still made me guffaw happily a few times. The Moroccan women behind me were also having the time of their lives and really enjoyed the self-relativating Kamal, even when he parodied their own world. One can safely add the words ‘humor’ and ‘self-mockery’ to the slogan ‘Can art save the world?’
Special meeting
Afterwards I was invited by Kamal to his lodge and that was also a special meeting for me with Helmut Lotti, with whom I still had a bone to pick. After all, Helmut once took it into his head to call the Beerschot supporter a terminal patient. My bad character had written a response column to that entitled ‘Helmut Floppy.’
Unfinished business between the two of us, with Kamal turning white for a moment when he heard that. It turned out that Helmut was not targeting the supporters of my favorite club. But apparently at that time someone from his own environment was very seriously ill and he thought that football was being taken too seriously.
That, of course, explained everything. A few beers later we were best friends and I congratulated him on the fact that he has the art of always reinventing himself.
My wise life lesson: before being angry with someone or taking offense to certain things, perhaps first contact that other person. Helmut’s life lesson: some things are sometimes hurtful if you put too much into perspective. We ended as only real people can: we drank a glass, sang together and had a great evening.
And Kamal, he stood there and enjoyed it. His new joke was already born.
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2024-01-12 11:00:49
#COLUMN #Walter #Damen #Lang #leve #Kamal #Kharmach
