My Right Foot

In 6th grade, I was a crosswalk guard during lunch recess. One day, a car filled with teenagers cruised by and someone threw out what I thought was a cigarette. Being a conscientious budding environmentalist, I walked over to stomp it out. As my foot was about six inches above the “cigarette” it exploded. It was a firecracker. I don’t know what kind it was, but the explosion was loud enough to deafen me for a couple hours. Right after it happened I went to a teacher and told her. She didn’t seem to care that I was now deaf, or that I almost lost my foot. No, she just kept telling me to get back to the crosswalk. After hearing what happened to that young man in New York this weekend (who stepped on some kind of homemade fireworks), I tried to imagine how my life would have been had I actually stepped on the “cigarette” as it exploded. I’ve used my feet a lot in my life. Things would have sure been different.