Short Story #2

             This is the second edition of the series "Short Stories," where I write a short story about anything. You can find the first one here.The topics can range from sci-fi to a real story that happened to me. I hope these short stories brighten your day and keep you occupied with a dying form of entertainment, literature. This specific story is a true story, something that happened to me a few days ago when I tried to sell some baseball coupons in front of a grocery store.  

             For baseball, I need to fund raise to be on the team. I have to sell 10 coupon packs for 20$ each. Most people are not going to want to buy these unless they are relatives or close friends. Having only sold three, I rode my bike to the local grocery store to try and sell some to shoppers. After locking up my bike, I walked to where I would sell the coupons. I went past a homeless person glaring at me as I sat my backpack down. I proceeded to spend 15 minutes asking people if they would like to buy some coupons. Not a single person bought any, and so, being more determined to sell any, I became more aggressive. Then things got weird. The homeless man says to me in a grumpy tone, "Hey kid. Do you mind moving? I'm trying to make a few bucks to live off of." Being the wuss that I am, I move my location down the strip mall a few stores.
            After standing around not even seeing anyone, a lady comes and asks me if the homeless man was giving me any trouble. I said he asked me to move, and then a man from the pizza place comes out and tells me I have a right to be there, the homeless man does not. Fueled with a new confidence, I walk to behind the post where the homeless man is. I start trying to sell the things behind his back, literally. After one sales pitch, I was left standing in a spot where the homeless man could see me. He looked over at me, and he had a mad look on his face, one that made me feel that he didn't like me. A security guard then comes along and tells the man to move. When he moves, I move, going back to my original position. The man, walking away, looks back at me, glaring. I smile, and tip my hat towards him, causing him to turn around and walk away. After another 30 minutes of selling nothing, I decide to leave.
            I unlock my bike, and while doing so, notice a man with a long ponytail sitting on a bicycle, his back perfectly straight. He is not moving at all, and even after unlocking my bike he is still perfecly still. Then I notice it, the video camera on his bike, pointing straight to the entance of the grocery store. Startled, I ride my bike to try and find the security guard I saw earlier. I cannot find her, so I decide to leave as fast as I can, before the man on the bike spots me. I ride home, upset about not selling any coupons, hoping I will be able to sell them by the deadline.

Dissecting Quotes #15

          This is the fifteenth edition of the series "Dissecting Quotes", where I choose a quote and briefly describe what I think the quote means and how to apply it to our everyday lives. I hope the insight a high schooler can provide can help brighten a day or get you thinking.

"What you can do today can

improve all your tommorows." 

-Ralph Marston

          We are always told that live like there is no tomorrow. That can be good advice, but it also can be destructive. If we really did live like there was no tomorrow, we would be in such a hole the next day that we would not be able to survive. Even if we did survive, we would not be able to live like that for long. Ralph Marston disagrees with this statement, he says what we choose to do today can change our future, improving it to how you want it to be. This quote, when reflected upon, is instrumental in everyday decisions and things we do. Some things we choose to do are very near sighted, and if we put our actions in perspective, we would realize that what we are doing is maybe not the best thing to be doing. If we choose to do something productive instead of wasting our time on silly things, our future can turn out to be better and more enjoyable than it would have been.

           

My Half Marathon

           Yesterday, I ran a half marathon in Irvine, California. I went with my girlfriend and my mom, and I had to wake up at 4:50 to leave the house on time. We drove to the check-in at the race, and I received my bib number. We got to the area early, so we waited around for an hour. 20 minutes before the race, I went for a five minute jog. Normally I warm up more, but I did not feel like running before the race. I lined up according to my desired pace, which was around 7:10. There was a little ceremony before the race, and then we walked up to where the starting line was. There was a countdown, and then an air horn was blown. I started off strong, and I got faster the whole race. The race was a little crowded in the beginning, but since I finished in the top 100, the pack thinned out during the whole race. My first mile was around 7:20, and my second was 14:00. I calculated out how fast I needed to run at each mile, and I beat my goal on each mile.

My First Half Marathon

           One of the fun things about running the race is all the people cheering you on. I have four times where I was having a great time running the race. The first is when I approached the second water station, there were 20 or so high schoolers holding water cups and begging me to take one of theirs. I shook my head at a few of them, then pointed at one and took his cup. When I did, he cheered and everyone else groaned. I thought that was funny and it helped me run a little faster. The second time was when I passed a mile marker with 5 girls politely clapping. I raised my arms and they started cheering and one of them said, "Dude, you are awesome." The third time was when I reached a corner of the course, and there was a man with a microphone and he asked the runners, "Are any of you having fun?" to which I replied by raising my arms and smiling. He mentioned my bib number and said, "Looks as if this young man is having fun." The last time was when I neared the last 100 yards and there were tons of people cheering on the sidelines. I knew I was almost done with the race, so I sprinted and beat two people right in front of me.
           I ended up with a time of 1:29 and 17 seconds. This is far better than the 7:10 pace I wanted; I got a 6:49 pace for the 13.1 miles. My legs were aching as I walked around the finish area, but I made up for it by grabbing a whole bunch of cookies and dessert items. I recieved a medal, which looks like this:

My Southern California Half Marathon Medal

           I met up with my mom and girlfriend, who had been cheering me on the whole race. I was glad to see them, and we walked to our car and drove home. The race was great, and I had a fun time running my first half marathon. I hope to do another one again this year, and I hope to break my time.

Dissecting Quotes #14

            This is the fourteenth edition of the series "Dissecting Quotes", where I choose a quote and briefly describe what I think the quote means and how to apply it to our everyday lives. I hope the insight a high schooler can provide can help brighten a day or get you thinking.

"Always remember that the future

 comes one day at a time." 

-Dean Acheson

           Many people promise change. Sometimes presidential candidates, sometimes Senators, sometimes parents. We all need some change, and while some change is good, some change cannot be good. Sometimes change is pushed too fast, and there are consequences for the lack of patience. We look too far to the future, but we need to refocus our mentality on today, and when we are able to live each day as a single day, we can get somewhere. We will achieve change, and the change will be good. Unless the change you want to see is destroying the world, or something similar. Just kidding, but even if we are trying to destroy the world, if we live our lives one day at a time, we will see that destroying the world is probably not the best thing to do. So the best thing we can do is to take one day as a time.