The Race

The date was April 18th, 2009. The gloom was ominous.

Kidding.

I don’t actually know what the date was. But it was sometime in April of my senior year of high school.

Since there was barely any funding for trips of any kind in my school, for our senior trip they decided to take us to some amusement park in Wisconsin that none of us had ever heard of. Despite initial grumbling how we wanted a real trip, we resigned ourselves to the event of a theme park and decided to have an awesome time, being that this would be our last “group gathering” as the seniors of ’09. This acceptance was also largely due to the gift of personalized sweatpants that were distributed prior to the trip itself – everyone knows that gifts mend all strife (I don’t think that’s actually a saying…but it is now!).

I’m not the biggest roller coaster fan. I’m not. I don’t like the “thrill” of feeling like you’re going to die at a consistency of at least 5 times a ride. I like my mortality very much thank you, and would like to hold on to it for a long time. I can’t even do the kiddie stuff at Six Flags.

But I CAN do racing.

This was the highlight of my day at this amusement park: My three best friends and I came to a unanimous vote that we’d go to the go-carts (shaped like real race cars! oh boy) and race till the people in line behind us would complain. When we got to the cars…I changed. Into this crazily competitive wild animal thing. I had to win! I suddenly decided to not let my friend Lior pass me.

Not once.

And it was so wonderful.

She kept yelling at me, “Stopppp, let me THROUGH!” while laughing with frustration. I would cut to the left, and then to the right, literally not letting her get past me.

I couldn’t stop cackling! I couldn’t. THIS was play, like I had experienced as a kid, and honestly I was the happiest I’d been in YEARS.

Just wanted to share this bit of reminiscence with you all. Remember the good times!