Quick: Think about something that would suddenly grab your attention. OK, now imagine it being used in a clever way, drawing you further into this article.
Assuming you have been drawn in by my hook without bait, I will continue. The first two Ink About It columns having been an overwhelming success -and by overwhelming success, I mean that The Post is letting me write a third -I have reluctantly admitted to myself that a letdown is inevitable.
Now luckily, in the case of Ink -and yes, I am trying to establish a nickname for my column (as in, Hey man
did you read this week's Ink? It left a permanent stain on my mind. The pun is optional.) -the bar was never set particularly high in the first place, so any letdown would be considerably subdued.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that letdowns are nothing to be ashamed of. There is a long list of letdowns, in fact, that have shaped who we have become, both individually and as a society. Letdowns are a part of life and without them, we wouldn't appreciate the expected triumphs and unexpected fortunes that present themselves to us everyday.
What letdowns, you ask? Well, how about Norm McDonald getting fired from Weekend Update? Christmas morning since we were about 15. Any potential championship-caliber team from Cleveland. Any member of the opposite sex you have met while drunk. Milli Vanilli live. Vanilla Ice, period.
A letdown is seeing someone attractive uptown, finally working up the courage to say something and then stumbling over a loose brick right before you open your mouth.
How about finding out you have to walk to the HDL center? Getting a burnt corner piece from Goodfellas with too much flour on the bottom. Woodstock '94. E.T. for original Atari. The Ohio basketball team from two years ago.
A letdown is a teacher finishing up her last thoughts on a topic with a half hour left in class, everyone slowly closing their notebook and unzipping their book bags, and then her saying, Now before I let you go let's start on a new topic. Making a half-court shot at Ping and nobody seeing it. Finding a coupon for a free bagel at Bagel Street the day after it expires. People not referring to your column as Ink in casual conversation and at parties. Every Kevin Costner movie since 1995.
And to that historic list you can now add this column, a true pillar of mediocrity if ever there was one.
But without all these seemingly purposeless disappointments, we wouldn't be able to fully appreciate the miracles of life. Marky Mark Wahlberg can actually act. Creed broke up. Britney Spears is marrying someone with a lower IQ than her own. They're making new episodes of Family Guy.
So the next time you fail the test you thought you passed, or someone else gets the part you wanted in the play, or the girl you like has a boyfriend that can make you cry like a little schoolgirl, try to remember that the disappointments in life are just a part of the process, an inevitable result of all the good things that have happened and that will in the future.
They say when life gives you a lemon, make lemonade. But I think sometimes a lemon is just what the doctor ordered. I just hope this column can be that lemon.
-Bryson Turner is a junior telecommunications major who will be tailgating at both volleyball matches this weekend. Send him an e-mail at bryson.a.turner@ohiou.edu.
17
Archives
The Post Editorial Board
