1.1 Ben San Pablo was named after this father, Bienvenido San Pablo, Sr., a strong muscular man of broad shoulders and deep voice, a tough, bold exterior fortified nightly by the golden flame lit within an amber bottle of whiskey. There was no earthly weight that Bienvenido Senior could not lift, no woman he could not charm, no comrade from whom he did not receive respect. And yet a great weight surrounded his heart like a lead suitcase, an unattainable woman sneered blue cat eyes in his dreams, a great white father reminded him constantly of his place. Thus a great man was a cripple in his own mind, uncontrollably jealous of the woman with whom he became attached such that his paranoia and self-doubt eventually drove each of them away, and though a respected foreman at his job, he spent all his additional pay buying drinks and loaning money to his working crew to assure himself of their friendship and continued loyalty.

1.2 A man's self-worth can only be measured by himself.