It was selfish, I knew in that moment that it was selfish. My sister, Bridgette, was only six years old, and I took advantage of being only a year older than her. She was oblivious to what I was doing in that moment. We were at the arcade in the middle of July in Stone Harbor, NJ. We decided that after we were done playing all the games, that we would combine our tickets and split it. After about an hour, we came together to add up our tickets.
To my surprise, she had won more tickets than me, but we stuck to the agreement and had 78 tickets. I bought the tickets to the counter, and I glanced down at the prizes. I was scanning the counter back and forth looking for something that was worth 39 tickets. My sister was also doing the same thing. Finally, I walked to the far left corner and I saw what I wanted. In that specific moment I could have swore I had never wanted anything more. There was one problem.
The silver bracelet was 50 tickets. I looked down at the prize counter and saw my sister looking at the candy choices. The man at the counter walked my way, and I quickly gave him the 50 tickets. I put the bracelet in my pocket, and then I walked over to my sister. She took the 28 tickets from my hand. For a second, I thought about just telling her what I did, but I stayed silent. My mom was around somewhere, but I was just hoping that she did not see me. Luckily, she never mentioned it to me, so I assumed she did not see me.
Bridgette just got candy with the 28 tickets, which made me feel better about what I just did. I thought to myself that if she ever found out, I would give her a dollar to get another piece of candy at the 5&10 across the street. I knew that was not the same, but it was better than nothing. There was something about what I just did that did not feel right because I know she would never have done that to me.
In David Sedaris’s “Us and Them”, the main character was very amused by their neighbors, the Tomkeys. He was very fascinated by them because of how different they were from everyone else. What made them seem so different was that they did not own a TV. That was definitely something out of the ordinary for the main character who grew up with one. He sneaks around their house, and watches through their windows in amazement as to what was going on during dinner because they were all together talking. This almost seems foreign to the narrator. David begins to mention how different they were at school. Other kids noticed what made the Tomkey’s different from everyone else. The Tomkey’s were not only a source of entertainment for the main character, but everyone at school treated them different.
Once Halloween rolled around, the Tomkeys did not participate in the normal holiday tradition. The next day, the narrator hears people at his door, and he goes to answer it. To his surprise, it was the Tomkeys. They had decided to go trick or treating the day after Halloween. Unfortunately, they already ran out of candy, so David’s mom asked him to give them some of his candy. He did not understand how that was fair because it was his. He went into his room, and ate all of his candy.
David was selfish, and wanted to make sure that no one could have what was his. David’s mom came into his room and was very upset that he was so ignorant to not have given them any of his candy. In the end of the story David looks at himself and reflects on his actions, “He’s a human being, but also he’s a pig, surrounded by trash and gorging himself so that others may be denied. Were this the only image in the world, you’d be forced to give it your full attention, but fortunately there were others,” (Sedaris).
As children we do not always see the benefit of what sharing can do for others. We only see how it can benefit ourselves. As we age we learn about how our actions affect others. Children do not always see other’s feelings, they only understand their own personal feelings. Once I was personally put into that situation I understood how it affected me as a person. I knew that it was selfish, and David knew it as well. Children learn from their mistakes and the only way for them to grow is to make these mistakes. Personally, I was affected greatly about the arcade tickets that my sister had earned. It did not feel right, and when I look back on it now, I wish I could take it back.
My sister is aware of what I did all those years ago, and she does not seem to be bothered by it because it was not her mistake. I did not have to give her the dollar for more candy. She forgave me, but I know what I did and I cannot imagine the day that I will forget it. I kept the bracelet in my dresser, and till this day I am not sure where it is. David will also not be able to forget what he did because for the first time he was able to realize how his actions affected others. This is a great way for each of us to look back on our childhood and point out when our mind set was changed.
This will not be the last moment in my life that I will be affected by a minor incident that made a major impact. Each situation is different for everyone, and we all feel different things, but we can connect to each other through the lesson that was obtained. My sister also learned from my mistake, which is greater than another piece of candy. There is so much more than the physical benefit of being selfish. I can use this personal experience to explain why there is no actual prize in taking advantage of others, because it only makes it worse. Humans learn new things about themselves everyday, and that is how we continue to grow as people. This allows for us to mature and become the adult we are ready and expected to be.
