Sam’s knees take a beating. They’re scabby and torn up with road rash. The abuse began early this summer when a kid on a bike ran him over. Sam hobbled home with a bloody knee and bragging rights, for it’s the rare kid who can claim to have survived a hit-and-run.
Sam follows rules, so the injustice of the accident bothered him. But as much as he loves the law, he also loves speed. He understood how a bike could barrel down the sidewalk and knock him down. In fact, he continued to burn around our block on his own bike, and re-scabbed the scab over and over.
These two parts of Sam’s personality dueled it out the other day when we went school shopping. He needed a new pack for school, and after finding the right size, I asked him to choose a color: unadorned black, blue with a silhouette of a skateboarder, or a green silhouette of a BMX biker. He went back and forth for a half-hour. Finally, he made a decision.
“My favorite color’s green, but I think I’ll get the black one,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because the snowboarder and the biker aren’t wearing helmets, and that’s against the law.”
Sam. You are hilarious!
Smart boy.
Sam for president!