Saturday, December 4, 2010

i want to know why...

"I want to know why..."
I want to know why…
…no one understands the thrill I get when I walk into Staples to buy new school supplies.
…I never feel too compelled to join my friends at a party on a Saturday night, and why they never seem
sincerely disappointed when I stay at home.
…I always have to look down at my feet when I walk.
…I can devour an entire bag of baby carrots the way others can eat a large pizza by themselves.
…the guy with the suit and briefcase at Starbucks yesterday was reading the comics and I was the one
catching up on world news and thumbing through the business section.
…I’ve never had a real boyfriend.
…I can never seem to keep up with today’s popular TV shows.
…I still look back at that eighth grade Sadie Hawkins dance and regret never asking Thomas Jameson.
…so many people have never heard of A Mencken Chrestomathy.
…even though I’ve wanted to be a news reporter since the day I saw Katie Couric co-host the 2000
Summer Olympics, I’m beginning to regret my journalism major.
 *       *       *
                I think I’m beginning to regret my journalism major. I don’t know why, but I just get this unsettled feeling in my stomach every time I walk into my news editing class. But it’s not like I ever forget my homework, so that can’t be the reason. And I love my professor, Mr. Parker. He’s a genius. So I have no idea what my problem is.
                I remember when I was ten and my sister was eighteen. She told Mom she wanted to be a philosophy major. We were eating dinner, and after hearing my sister’s news, my mother, Mrs. Pragmatism, just sat there eating her green beans for several seconds. She finally put her fork down, and told my sister she was an idiot.
                That was the year I stopped drawing all over my math book, fantasizing about being an artist. That was the year I saw Katie Couric co-host the 2000 Summer Olympics. My mother called her “one of the most diligent, able-minded females on television.” That was the year I began reading the newspaper and calling myself an aspiring journalist.

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