What Would You Wait in Line For?

         My family calls me Tinky. Tinky is short for stinky which I was called as a baby because of my diapers, but that’s beside the point. There is a song and everything that goes along with the nickname. Some of the lyrics include “Tinky gets what Tinky wants.” 

        My mom and I like to play this game, there isn’t a name for it, but the object is to see who can embarrass the other person in public more. From eating food impolitely in front of my friends to burping loudly in stores to making personal introductions to the boys she knew I liked, she was always there to try to embarrass me. I was insistent that I couldn’t be embarrassed by anything, and boy, did I want to win. According to my family’s legendary song, that’s what was in store for the future of this game because “when Tinky wants something, she gets it.”Game or no game, my family knows that when I really want something, I will go the distance to make it happen. 

My sister and I used to wrestle with these hypotheticals, asking each other silly questions. Her favorite always involved something to do with eating poop or a bathtub of spiders. “Hey Stella, if mom and dad agreed to get us a puppy but only under the condition that we do something really horrible, like get in a bathtub full of spiders, would you do it?” 


Among the horrible things no one wants to do, I’d argue that waiting in line is something most everyone exclusively dreads. Think about how much money people pay just so they don’t have to wait in line for theme park rides. There are three categories of things I would wait in line for. The first being, if this hypothetical situation were to cause death or harm a person if I didn’t wait in line, then yes, of course, if that’s what it took, I would wait in the longest, loudest, hottest, line of sticky, sweaty people. I would do the same for most living beings down to bumblebees…although, I probably wouldn’t wait in a line to save the life of a mosquito or fruit fly (nobody likes them anyway). 


The second category of things I would wait in line for is excitement. From a celebrity meet and greet to sky diving or bungee jumping I would happily endure waiting in a long line; the marvelous art of delayed gratification. 


The last thing I would wait in line for is to achieve my goals, whatever they may be. Which, in a sense, is what I am doing currently in the grand scheme of life. I am working hard in school so I can experience the gratification of getting into the college I want, and eventually, so I can get into the med school I want (so on and so forth). This question is basically asking, how far will you go to get what you want? Will you do the one thing you hate most to achieve your dreams? 


To this day, my mom has yet to truly embarrass me. There have been some close calls, and the fight will probably never be over. If I had to wait in a long line or jump in a bathtub of spiders to alas win this game, would I do it? Absolutely. You know what they say, Tinky gets what Tinky wants.

Comments

  1. BronwynNovember 30, 2021 at 5:49 PM

    You did a great job with this essay! It's funny and takes the prompt through a lot of different options which makes it interesting to read. I love the story you started out with because I think it does a great job introducing the topic in a strange and fun way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JeanaNovember 30, 2021 at 7:42 PM

    I really liked the way you began your essay -- it's creative, interesting, and makes me want to read more. The way you connect the ending to your introduction paragraph also helped bring it full circle. The middle of your essay does seem a bit rushed and the ending feels a bit disconnected. Also, I thought your ideas in the last few sentences of your second to last paragraph were very interesting. I liked the way you approached this prompt! Great job!

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