Life Lessons from Kirk

As you can tell from my blog name, I loved the show Gilmore Girls. Aside from relating to their passion for coffee, I always loved the stories told in Stars Hollow and one of the best parts of the show was how you could get to know so many different characters. Everyone from Miss Patt, to Lane, to the town troubadour had a rich backstory and a role in the show’s charm. One of the background characters that time and time again proved to be so important to almost every storyline without actually being a main character was town weirdo Kirk Gleason. Kirk somehow got involved in everything and ended up teaching us a lot of lessons we may not have even been aware of. Here is a list of some of the ones that stand out to me.

1- No job is too small

Over the years we saw Kirk wear many hats. It seems like he had his hand in every business in Stars Hollow. Everywhere you turned, there was Kirk doing a new job. One day he would be the manager of Taylor’s Market, another day he was the mailman, the beauty store clerk, the cable guy, delivery man, giant hot dog flyer hander-outer, and countless more. One site has the count at 62, but I’m sure there are many more jobs we weren’t even aware of. The lesson is that a good work ethic knows no bounds. Kirk was willing to take any job no matter how small and took great pride in each and every one.  

2- There is someone out there for everyone

I may have hoped more than anyone, even Kirk himself, that he would eventually find love. He struck out with Lorelai and seemed very lonely for a long time. Then came Lulu. She complemented him perfectly, probably being the only person in the Gilmore world that got all of his Kirky-quirks. If Kirk, with his mother issues, night terrors and fear biting can find love, there really is someone out there for all of us.

3- Follow your dreams

One of the biggest lessons Kirk taught us is that no dream is too far fetched or crazy. If you want to be an independent film maker, try it. If you want to create your own line of skin care products, go for it. Not every dream may pan out or work but they are all worth trying.

4- Being frugal can get you far

Remember the time Kirk was upset about a 10 cent raise in the price of toast at Luke’s? While it was something so small and insignificant to the rest of us, he stood his ground and refused to fork over the extra money. It’s little money saving tricks like that, plus the dozens of jobs Kirk has that led to his massive savings. Kirk earned and saved enough to be able to put in a cash offer on his dream house.

5- Doing anything for the people you care about

There was probably nothing Kirk wouldn’t do for the people of Stars Hollow. If anyone ever needed any help he was there. Offering to watch over the girls to keep them safe, running errands for Taylor, even stepping in as the “Woman of Questionable Morals” when the town needed it. Kirk was there. Despite his sometimes unsolicited advice and strange competitive streak, he genuinely cared for all his friends and family and often went out of his way to be of help. That is a great example for us all

6 – If you’re going to do something, go all in

Kirk was never one to half ass anything, be it setting up an alarm for the Gilmores (so well that they couldn’t move in their own home) or hiding 300 eggs in the town square for Easter, then tirelessly finding the remaining ones, Kirk should be an example to us to always give 110% to anything we take on.

 

7 – It’s ok to mess up

We saw Kirk fail sometimes. Well… often. A lot of his business ventures flopped, some never really panned out. Sometimes his offers to help resulted huge problems or messes, but still… Kirk persisted. He taught us that failing once, twice or even 100 times is not a good enough reason to keep trying.

8 – Honesty is the best policy

You can always count on Kirk to tell you the truth, no matter now uncomfortable or awkward the truth may be. He’ll be the one to tell you if he doesn’t agree or approve of something, like the Mayflower Pole dance he wasn’t included on, and he will readily admit extremely embarrassing things about himself. Sometimes such honesty is unwelcome, but you can always be sure someone like Kirk will wear his hear on his sleeve and tell you what he’s really feeling, the good and the bad, and it’s one of the main reasons he’s a beloved part of this Gilmore world.