Bruce Willis was a one hit wonder. "Respect Yourself" climbed the charts just before "The Return of Bruno" hit movie theaters across the country in 1988. With Willis as the title character Bruno--a rock star who influenced innumerable performers from the 1960s onward-- who could resist? The tagline for the film summed it up well "A Hilarious Rock Comedy." Interest was piqued, hundreds of ticket buyers went to see what "Return of Bruno" was all bout. Across the cafe from me three men in their early thirties discussed why it is important for coworkers to appreciate their work. It was obvious one of them knew Willis's best on-screen performance well.

"I need people to respect my work, to tell me it's good."

"Why do you need a middle-man to feel good about yourself? Why not cut out the middle-man and merely respect yourself?"

"Because I need to know that people appreciate my work."

Bruno spoke across the ages....

Now if you disrespect everybody that you run into
How in the world do you think anybody 'sposed to respect you?
If you don't give a heck about the man with the Bible in his hand Just get out the way and let the gentleman do his thing
You're the kind of gentleman that wants everything their way
Take the sheet off your face boy, it's a brand new day!

"I still think you would be happier with yourself if you just respected yourself, just approach it that way"
"I think I see what you are saying"
The third person at the table stared into his coffee. He stirred it slowly while the other two nodded and smiled at the success of their conversation. Was he ready for the film? Could he be reached?

Respect yourself, respect yourself, if you don't respect yourself
Ain't nobody gonna give a good hoot, na- na- na respect yourself, respect yourself.
If you're walking around thinking that the world owes you something cause you're here
You're going out the world backwards like you did when you first came here
You keep talking about the president won't stop air pollution
Put your hand over your mouth when you cough that'll help the solution
You cuss around women and you don't even know their names
Then you're dumb enough to think that it makes you a big ol' man...

"Well, I've got to go work. It was nice talking to you again."

"Sure.. anytime."

The three of them got up, shook hands and left the cafe to return to work.