The following is an essay which I wrote on unicycling for English. = I
didn’t want it to go to waste without ever being seen by any uniists besi=
des my brother. Please excuse the serious tone, which in neccesary due to
th= e fact that it was written for a strict teacher. =
-Ben Martin
P.S. Private flames would be prefered.
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Did You Lose Your Other Wheel?
Images of a peaceful ride through the park floated through my mind as I = went inside to change into comfortable attire. Once I had traded jeans for sh= orts and a sweatshirt for a loose t-shirt, I grabbed my unicycle and took off toward the park. A short while later I reach the start of the trail that leads through Blossom Hill Park. I know the park well from my daily rides through it o= n the way to and from school on my bike. It holds some magic with which th= e str eets can not compete. The air feels lighter and the rolling grass is gen= tle upon the eye. Sometimes, at just the right time in the late afternoon, a=
cool breeze flows through and the sun hits just at the right angle to fee= l
warm, but not hot. All of these, however, can not compete with the peopl=
e.At around five in the afternoon, the park is seething with the energy radiated
by the people milling around. Small children playing on the pla= ygrou nd are
a joy to watch, as are the adults watching over them with peculiar=
expressions, half of fear and half of joy. The tennis courts abound with= the
sound of tennis balls and the occasional racket hitting the ground. =
Everywhere there are people walking or jogging, some with dogs, some with=
friends, and some by themselves. Each part of the park is a joy, but the=
whole of it is much more than the sum of its parts. =
I entered the park with the hope that the experience would be as
enjoyab= le on a unicycle as it was on bike or foot. A few yards into
the park, a group of roller bladers came speeding down = the path. Their
first reaction was astonishment, demonstrated by the utteran= ce of
=93Woah!=94, =93Cool!=94, and =93Awesome!=94. One of the baggy clothe= d
boys, obviously the leader, was not content to let anyone or anything
else hold= the center of attention for long, so he decided to do
something about it. As= the others admired the unicycle, a smile
suddenly spread across his face. =
=93Where is your other wheel?=94 he asked with a smirk.
A bout of laughter followed and the leader felt good again, his
position=
restored. Satisfied, the bladers continued on their way. What a jerk! = I
thought, and put it out of my mind. I rode by a group of children waiting= to be
picked up after school and was suddenly inundated with questions on my=
uni. =
=93How do you stay on it?=94 =93Can I ride it?=94 =93What happens when
=y=
ou fall off?=94 and =93Did you break your bike?=94 were just a few of the
multitude of qu= estions that the little cretins asked. To make matters worse,
perhaps because the=
children knew that they did not have much time, the questions were asked = at an
unbearable speed. Though perhaps well meaning, their questions seemed
intentionally cruel, especially for people so young to say. In hindsight= ,
their questions were only natural and I probably would have done the same= if I
were in that situation at that age. =
Since I could stand no more, I hastily exited to the street, which I
the= n followed to the rear end of the park. Entering the park from this
side l= ed me by the wooden jungle gym. Suddenly, all activity stopped
as I rode by= and all eyes turned toward me. An eerie stillness
persisted as I rode by. O= ne of the little children started to ask the
all too familiar question about= the location of my other wheel, when
his mother quickly stopped him. Other t= han that, some concealed
murmurs were all I heard. As I continued, I heard a=
child ask his mother, =93What was that?=94
=93Just a funny bicycle. Don=92t worry about it.=94 came the reply. So=
me of the other adults grunted in agreement. I was shocked that someone would
act = as if riding a unicycle was an unfortunate malady and unicyclists needed
to = be defended from overly curious children. Resisting the urge to turn
around= and forcibly correct the parents, I continued home. =
At the time, I was unable to fully understand the reactions of the
peopl= e in the park, largely because the speed of the incidents and the
rapidity wit= h which they occurred made incident hard to endure. Now,
when I think abou= t the whole incident logically, the reactions of the
people in the park wer= e understandable. I was expecting the reaction
of the older children from w= hat I had heard on the internet and was
dreading it in the back of my mind wh= en I entered the park. I was not
really prepared for the reaction of the youn= ger children, since all
the children that age I regularly see are accustomed = to my hobby and
have long since just considered it a mild curiosity. I coul= d relate to
the curiosity of the children in the school yard and understand= the
thought process behind their actions. =
The reaction of the adults was what really surprised me, and I still
can= not fully understand it. The best theory that I have to explain the
actions = of the adults was that they were too interested in me to
continue with what = they had been doing but too polite to ask
questions, leading to silent staring= on their part. It was almost as if
I were going by on a wheelchair. =
This incident shows several truths about curiosity and maturity in
human= ity as a whole. The children, lacking in the social training of
the adults, expressed whatever questions came to mind. Their openness
allowed them t= o demonstrate their natural curiosity, which, when
presented with unfamilia= r stimuli, is quite strong. The many questions
that they asked could be interpreted as a demonstration of how much
innate curiosity there is in e= ach of us. =
The older children showed curiosity, but tried to hide it with insults.
Their insults came partly out of a realization that someone had noticed
t= heir attention, which made them embarrassed, and partly out of a need
to make themselves feel normal. Their actions demonstrate how the stigma
against openly acknowledging interest in something that is out of the
ordinary is=
present; however, they are lacking in a proper method to exonify themselv= es.
Another factor that is present is the idea that by acknowledging interes= t in
something else, one is drawing attention away from themselves and thus
diminishing their status. The actions of the adults show how curiosity becomes
buried under a heav= y layer of politeness. These layers may be sufficient for
most occasions, = but can not be expected to function properly when confronted
by something as unusual as a unicycle. Because of this, confusion took over and
staring silently was the natural response. I can only imagine how it would feel
= to have a wheel chair or some other physical handicap, causing people around=
you to constantly be in the gray zone between being polite and asking questio=
ns, never knowing which to do. =
Unicycling can be a good metaphor for all that is strange in life. It
brings out reactions in people that reveal how their minds work. It
can = show how deeply one=92s curiosity has been buried, and the
different degrees o= f how hard that curiosity has to fight to
surface. All of these are merely unpleasant side effects of riding.
The real reason that I ride is for th= e fun and challenge.
Unfortunately, the public unfamiliarity with unicycling = make it so
that I can only experience the magic of the park on bike or foot. = In
the end, I am forced to simply enjoy riding and learn to accept the
react= ions I get in the park.