Friday, January 28, 2011

Picking Sides

The sandwich shop next to my office in Washington D.C. has the best turkey on wheat. I paid for one and a tea then walked down to a park. As I took the first bite, I saw a group of kids choosing teams for a baseball game. The last kid to be picked was a harmless looking little guy. He was probably 10 years old, but he looked 8. He looked used to this. I swallowed the final bite of turkey and walked back to my office. It was voting day on the hill and the adults were picking sides.

*blogger's note* This is my entry for @velvetverbosity 's #100words at http://www.velvetverbosity.com/ 's 100 word challenge. This week's one word prompt is "HARMLESS". In honor of the The President's State of The Union Address this week combined with a conversation I had with my daughters about playing with their all their friends equally plus being a smallest kid in my neighborhood and school growing up, I chose something that speaks on several levels. Sometimes adulthood and childhood are way too much alike.
Posted by Lance at Friday, January 28, 2011

13 comments:

  1. barbaraJanuary 28, 2011 at 2:19 PM

    nice take, Lance. I like how you pulled it all together. Sometimes the littlest guy has the most to offer. :)

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  2. UnknownJanuary 28, 2011 at 2:19 PM

    Been there. Last one picked - odd man out - all the same thing, really. It sucks - but it's part of a least one person in the group's growing up process. And in the end .. you gotta wonder who winds up stronger.

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  3. Velvet VerbosityJanuary 28, 2011 at 7:09 PM

    Of the people I've met through the years, one of the most interesting was a guy who admitted to me he was a "late bloomer" as he put it. He was not popular as a kid, and not popular with the womenz as a teen or in college. So he threw himself into all kinds of interesting hobbies and athletics, and he's quite a fellow now. Three beautiful daughters to boot!

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  4. AuroraLeeJanuary 28, 2011 at 7:18 PM

    A nice slice of life. And, as Barbara said, the last line really brought it all together and connected it all.

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  5. you gotta wonderJanuary 29, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    Very good job drawing the parallel and giving us pause. (LceeL's comment made me laugh because of his reference to my blogger nickname.)

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  6. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2011 at 11:04 AM

    Awesome job - I loved the parallel symbolism in that story - Just glad that one side of the kids werent to abusive with the other side . . .

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  7. June B. AndersonJanuary 29, 2011 at 5:23 PM

    I hated it when we had to choose sides. I was skinny and not very athletic. I really liked this piece. Way good job, cuz! :)

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  8. BoJanuary 30, 2011 at 9:54 AM

    Even as adults we still choose sides. Politics, sports teams, friends and sometimes even family. I'm just glad you chose me.

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  9. Tara R.January 30, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    Gotta look out for those nondescript kids, they grow up to be the ones in charge of everyone.

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  10. JackJanuary 30, 2011 at 7:16 PM

    I liked this. I think that it is about time for me to try one of them.

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  11. Teresa KanderJanuary 31, 2011 at 5:01 PM

    Very nice job!

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  12. Ms. MaggieJanuary 31, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    Nice job, I really like the comparisons here.

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  13. Velvet VerbosityFebruary 2, 2011 at 12:38 AM

    I was so non-athletic as a kid that I was always picked last during gym. I hated team sports, especially baseball or basketball. Not sure why teachers even thought it was a good idea to allow kids to "pick" teams.

    This read like something out of a detective novel. At least in my head anyway. The way the character observes objectively things going on around him.

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