Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry is a funny thing, you don’t know why you feel the need to compete with your siblings you just do.  People looking at it from the outside would probably try and rationalize why I feel the need to compete with my brothers saying things like, “Oh the only reason you do it is because you want more attention from your parents” or “It’s because you are the middle child and you just want to stand out.”  While these simple psychological explanations probably explain why other siblings feel the need to compete with each other, my brothers and I were lucky enough to have parents who are able to devote attention to us all equally.  No the simple truth is that we all just love rubbing it in each other’s faces when we are better than the others at something no matter how stupid or trivial it might be.  Unfortunately it has been a losing battle for me in the past couple of years.  Either god or genetics seemed fit to curse me with being the shortest of the three of us, adding insult to injury making my little brother a good two inches taller than me.  However even in the things I can control I am starting to lose ground.  Before I was considered the smart one always getting the better grades than the other two, but now they are doing well while I hit the hardest classes of my college career.  The need to compete has been one of the main driving forces of my college life.  While it is true I want to do well so I can later get a good job in life, there’s that little spark of competitive spirit inside me that wants me to do better than my brothers just so when I go home on break I can rub it in their faces.

An Evening Stroll Gone Wrong

It was another picturesque night on the island of Giglio with a cool sea blowing over the water as Maria and her boyfriend Mario were taking a stroll along the coast.  Mario was in a foul mood, he had gotten off work much later than usual today and was unable to make it to the bar before it closed at 9 p.m..  Cursing living on such a small conservative island, Maria suggested they go for a walk along the coast because she knew how much the sea calmed him down.  As they walked along the coast they noticed off on the water a cruise ship.

“Oh look,” exclaimed Maria! “A cruise ship and this one looks much bigger than the ones that usually come this close to shore.”

The ship was huge and lit up enough were they were able to make out the name of the vessel, the Costa Concordia.

“It’s a fine looking vessel,” said Mario.  “Hopefully one day I will be able to captain one just like it.”

            But suddenly Mario grew to have a look of dread upon his face.  “What’s wrong?” asked Maria.  “That captain can’t possibly be that stupid why are they coming closer to the island,” said Mario.  He was growing anxious and fearful as he saw the boat coming closer and closer to the island.  Making his living as a ferry boat captain, transporting tourists to and from Giglio he knew the waters well.  Just off the shore of the island the waters could be extremely dangerous because of how rocky it was.  Mario turned to Maria and said, “If that fool comes any closer he’s bound to wreck that ship.”  But it was too late.  To their horror they witnessed the ship quickly begin to capsize. Maria began to scream as the boat was close enough were they could see the passengers falling into the water but Mario just started sprinting away from the scene.  He knew he needed to go warn the police as soon as possible to hopefully get help for those people.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/world/europe/italy-cruise-island/index.html?hpt=wo_t5

The Free Football Shirt

They say the best things in life are free, and if saying has any truth to it then apparently some of the best things in life are t-shirts.  Over the years I have acquired dozens of them from the athletic teams I have been on but none have lasted quite as long as one.  I received it the summer before my junior year of high school during football camp.  It was a simple white shirt that had “Lansdale Catholic Football 2007” plastered on the front with a football on it and  I would go on to wear it as an undershirt underneath my pads during football games.

My team did incredibly well that year making it all the way to the state semi-finals in playoffs, marking the last time it would do well before the program's eventual decline.  I wish I could say I had a hand in helping the team get their but in reality I was just a second string lineman who only saw varsity playing time when we were dominating another team.  As our season went on our practices would become longer and grew to be a greater chore then they already were with the cold weather beginning to set in.  During these difficult practices I would play on scout squad offense since I was second string.  Our job was to mimic the plays of the week’s upcoming opponents for the first string playing defense.  It was during this time when I would try my hardest in order to acquire a starting position, even though it was a fool’s errand seeing how the starter was literally nearly double my weight and still managed to be faster than me.  Even so I still tried my hardest and while I never did get a chance to start that season the coach saw my effort and I was able to become a starter the next season.

All throughout this painstaking effort I was wearing that same shirt most of the time underneath my pads.  I still have it but it is nearly unrecognizable today.  It’s now an off white color due to the years of dirt, sweat, and the occasional blood that have been on it and it is completely worn out.  The sleeves are cut off, not because of these massive pythons I call arms but because it was a necessity as they were stained yellow from sweat.  I rarely wear the thing now for obvious reasons, but every once in a while I will wear it when doing yard work and remember that season when my team went far and my hard work paid off.