The Importance of Perspective

By Joe Puglielli

Timmy’s Perspective

You always remember where you are when something big happens. You remember what you were doing in the minutes before the incident. I was standing in the lunch line, thinking about how glad I was that math class was over and it was pizza for lunch today. I grabbed the red and white paper plate and put it on my tray. I turned to the lunch lady, whose grey hairs were neatly strung under her hairnet. I handed her my money and took my seat at my table. “Dude Patrick Mahomes had a great game last night,” I said as I sat down.

“Shut up, Timmy. Nobody gives a shit,” Mike said.

“Yeah, Timmy, shut your dumb ass up,” Collin followed.

“Mike, why are you such a dick,” Brian shot at him.

Me, Mike, Collin, and Brian. An inseparable foursome of best pals that constantly made fun of each other. At the lunch table, on the walk home from school, during water breaks at football practices, a constant cycle of best friends tearing each other apart. It starts as playful, but it sometimes gets too far.

“Brian, your just uptight because your ugly,” Mike chirped back. Brain tossed a tater tot in his direction, striking Mike in his bright green Oregon Ducks football t-shirt, and leaving behind a smear of blood-red ketchup. “Asshole,” he muttered as he wiped it off with a napkin and continued eating his food.

“Are you really going to take that level of disrespect, big dog?” Collin asked Mike. Collin was always the first to piggyback on a joke and was the type of kid who would pin two kids against each other just to see how far they would go.

“Your sister is so hot,” Mike shouted. Brian stared at him but gave him no response back. “If I could date anyone in the world, it would be her,” Mike shouted again.

“Last year, Mike shit his pants in school. He told me not to tell anyone.” Mike's face turned red. I could have sworn smoke came out of his ears. Brian smirked at him. Mike charged at him, tackling him to the floor in the middle of the cafeteria. The pair rolled around, clawing and scratching at each other. There was no winner, just a rolling mess of them grabbing each other.

“Fight!” someone yelled. Lunch was on hold, and chaos came about. Everyone was out of their seats, running to see the fight. Half-eaten sandwiches flew across the cafeteria, and cartons of chocolate milk spilled across the tables. A crowd gathered in the middle of the cafeteria. It was chaos. The assistant principal separated Brian and Mike, and the pair spent the rest of the day in the main office.

Mike’s Perspective

“The drive back was crazy,” I said. “The rain was coming down so hard and–”

“Patrick Mahomes had a great game last night,” Timmy cut me off.

“Shut up Timmy, nobody gives a shit,” I told him off.

“Yeah, Timmy, shut your dumb ass up,” Collin yelled.

“Mike, why are you such a dick,” Brian yelled at me. Brian is a dick, not me.

“Brian, why are you always so uptight, bro? You need to relax more.” In response to my constructive criticism, Brian dipped a tater tot in ketchup and hurled it at me, staining my shirt. I try to be nice to Brian, I really do. He pisses me off a lot, though. I wiped my shirt and shrugged it off. I don’t feel like starting something today.

“Are you really going to take that level of disrespect big dog?” Collin asked me. Maybe he was right, maybe I shouldn’t let Brian push me around.

“Hey, Brian,” I shouted. “Your sister is so hot.” He gave me a death stare. I glared back at him. He did something, I said something, we are even. All was good until he broke a sacred promise for no good reason. Last year in class, I wasn’t feeling too well after eating the school’s tacos for lunch and had a little accident. Brian was the only one who knew, and I made him swear up and down never to tell anyone. I don’t think I had ever been so mad in my entire life. My blood was boiling, I felt like a volcano was about to erupt inside of me. I walk over to Brian and sock him in the jaw. He threw a punch back, I dodged it and hit him with a mean left hook, then an uppercut, then I came back with the left and got him right on the nose. I fought him like I was Muhammed Ali.

“That’ll teach you to shut the hell up,” I told Brian as I had him pinned on the ground. I might have put him in the hospital, but the assistant principal eventually saved his sorry ass.

Brian’s Perspective

“Shut up, Timmy, nobody gives a shit,” Mike said.

“Mike, why are you such a dick?” I’m sick of Mike’s shit.

“Brian, why are you always so uptight, bro?” He asked me. I clenched my fist. I wanted to charge at him and kick his ass. He always makes the bad days worse. I fought that urge, and instead grabbed a tater tot, dipped it in ketchup, and sent it flying through the air, landing with a plop on his t-shirt. I went back to eating my lunch. Collin said