Preview

Even corny sayings often have a genn of truth in them. A plaque in a tourist shopgot the author thinking about the benefits of growing older-and possibly wiser.

Words to Watch

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1 In the area of Indiana where I grew up, consider myserf ord (no wisecracksshops cater to the tourists who come to from you t g-year-olds in the back row,see the local Amish peopre, with their prease), and there are prenty of times I'l9th century lifestyle and horse-drawn could be smarter. But if l,m not alwaysbuggies. One popular local souvenir srnart, at least I believe l,m becomino asold in those shops is kitchen praques' rittru r"r, drrb ,, th" )ililli*printed with what are supposedly Amish what am t l"s, d,rmb

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sayings-folksy things like "Kissing than when I was younger? r think of adon't last; cooking do," or 'Throw the number of things. For starters, I believehorse over the fence some hay.,, that I am less dumb u!s!L@;b rI I was never tempted to buy one of am less dumb about G[dTui-f,r,those corny plaques. But l,ll admit, one dumb about otf,",. piffi @;of the sayings on them has come into and in,.generar I am ress dumb whenmy mind recently.lt's notabout cooking .- jrdgifg)other people.

, _ or kissing

1.farm life. lt's this: "we grow First of all, let,s talk about worrying.j- too soon old 4nd too late smart." what were you worried about a week3 | think whoever came up with that ago? How about two weeks ago? can

line was on to something. At 54, I don't you remernber? No? well, neither can

Below are some words in the reading that do not have strong context support.Each word is followed by the number of the paragraph in which it appears -,0 i,,meaning there. These words are indicated in the article by a small circle (").

plaques (1): signsobsess (7): think constantly [about something]perspective ( 10): viewpointspontaneous (1 i): unplannedinfuriates (16): makes extremely angry

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282 PART TWO Fifteen Selections for Readers and Writers

l, and that's my point. When I wasyounger, I worried a lot. lwas really good

ir at it. I could take one minor worry-say, a tickle at the back of my throat- "and spin it into a long, complicatedworry that could ruin an entire day."My throat feels scratchy. Maybe l'mgetting a cold. ln fact, maybe it's not just

-, a cold. Maybe it's strep, Strep is reallysf nasty. And oh, shoot, I'm supposed to

go to the movies with Keith on Saturday.p nfnat's only three days away. Lemme

.p\;V see . . . if it is strep, and I get anribioticstll'nl-

S- d tomorrow, will I still be contagious on

\, { Saturday? But I still won't feel good and

\ the date will be a disaster and Keithwill never ask me out again and you

d KNOW who he'll ask out next, that cuteSuzanne from biology class, and . , ," By

the time I had worked that worry overthoroughly, my imagination had Keithand Suzanne married and living in a

half-million dollar house at the shorewith their 2.5 adorable children, while I

was friendless and miserable and living

. in a cold rented room with a goldfish as

my onty companton.6 Let me just point out that this was

a dumb way for me to spend my time.7 The fact is, l've slowly come to

, realize, that the things I worry aboutp ., trardly ever happen. A few days after

N\ T'u" worked myself into a larher over

{ $some issue, the problem has generallyd-e.ither disappeare

in some perfectly satisfactory way.All my worrying had absolutely noimpact, except to make me anxious anddepressed, So one way that I am nowless dumb is this: When | find myselfstarting to obsess' about a possible

problem-when those "What ifs?" startrunning through my head-l havelearnedto@"tomyself. I remind myself that the thingsI was worried about last week or lastmonth have, in general, not actuallyhappened;and if they dld happen, well,then I dealt with them.

The second thinq I am less dumbabout now ir@> wh"nI was younger, decisions scared me,so lvranted the peopJe glSg&_!1g_todo the Oeciiiing. t am talking about]-----things as minor as choosing what toorder in a restaurant ("Are you goingto have the clam chowder? l'll get theclam chowder if you do") to as majoras deciding where to go to college ("Agirl in my home room's brother goesto State U and he likes it, so maybel'll go there.") Never mind that I reallywanted the taco salad; never mind thatI didn't know a thing about State Uor the girl's brother. I felt safer havingsomeone else take the responsibility formy decision. The outcome? | ended updoing evefihing from eating food I

didn't enjoy to attending a college thatwas ill suited to my needs.

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s ReallY, reallY dumb''10 Slowly l've learned that making my

own decisions is not only smarter' but

^ -V it's very empowering. In order to make'M

oood decisions, l've had to start giving

E myself the same consideration that I

used to reserve for other people' I've

learned to respect rny preferences and

opinions and instincts, instead of hoping

that someone else might magicallY

know what's best for me' Sure, when l

have an important decision to make' I

still consult the people close to me; but

it's to get their perspective' on my own

thinking, not to ask them to tell me what

to do. For better or worse, the decision

is mine-l own it. And that's a lot more

satisfying than mY dumb old waY'

11 ln addition, I am less dumb about

this: I worrv MUCH less thanl used to

auou@whenlreflect upon my younger self, especially

when I was in mY teens and twenties' I

imagine myself moving through life in

-a riqid shelt of sji.llten5qie.U5ng$. I was

petrified that I might draw attentlon

to myself by doing something weird'

t - And to me, "something weird" meant

diHse"bometrring fun, creative, joyous'

qf,y- outrageous, spontaneous ' ' ' you get

&' the idea. If it was outside the tight little

mold of what "normal" PeoPle were

doing, I didn't have the courage to do it

anyway. I was too afraid of what people

would think. Would they stare? Would

theY laugh?

12 But You know something funnY?

When I think back to the PeoPle I

knew'during those years' I have only

the dimmest memories of the ones I

thought of as "normal"'They all blend

GROWING LESS DUMB 283

together in mY mind-the girls with

the stylish outfits and perfect hair; the

boys with the varsity letters and pricey

cars. For the most Part, I can't even

remember their names. The people who

I do remember are the ones like Mike'

who threw himself into every school

play with Passion and great good

humor;Caroline, who dyed her hair pink

long before it was fashionable; Serena,

who would sing at the top of her lungs

in the hallwaYs, and Carl, who sat in

the courtyard at lunchtime playing his

bongo drums. I liked those PeoPle; I

admired them; lwish l'd had the courage

to be more like them.

l'm glad to say l'm not that dumb 13

anymore. I can't remember the last

time I hesitated to do or say something

because I was worried, "What will "tfpeople think?" I have taken to heart the 1ery

wise words of former first lady Eleanor

Roosevelt, who said, "You wouldn't

worry so much about what others think

of you if you realized how seldom they

do." Now, I sing in public; I speak uP iel.in meetings; I ask for extra napkins in \

restaurants; I change my hair color on

a whim. I talk to strangers, I play patty-

cake with other people's babies, and I

pet strangers' dogs' ln short, I have a

blast. I wish l'd had as much fun when

I was 15.

am less dumb in mY 14

oolel When I was

io--*g"t, I tended to think in very black

and white terms. People were good or

they were bad; an action was either

right or it was wrong. To take an extreme

example, if I heard of a person accused

of abusing children' my response would

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284 PART TWO Fifteen Selections for Readers and Writers

be, 'Just kill him-don't even bother

with a trial. Get rid of him like you would

a mad dog." And the thought of anyone

hurting a child still makes me sick deep

in my soul. But as the years have gone

by, I have learned some sad truths. One

of them is that people who hurt children

were often themselves harmed in the

same awful waY. TheY were not born

monsters; at one point, they were the

innocent victims. So my attitude now is

different. I think "Keep him away from

children, forever. But look at him as

another human being. lf he was terribly

wounded in life, try to help him."

For another example, mY earlier

black-and-white thinking made me

assume that our political leaders in

Washington were doing what theY

should do, and that I didn't really need

to pay very much attention to their

actions. They knew more than I did

about what needed to be done, right?

I think l'm less dumb about that

now, too. I pay a lot closer attention

to what our elected officials are doing'

Now my attitude is, "HeY, I want mY

representatives to stand up for everyday

folks, for people who are just trying

to stay above water in todaY's hard

times." l've come to harshly judge thepoliticians who seem concerned mainly

about tax breaks for the wealthy and

the best interests of banks aPd big

corporations. I want to call them out

whe3 they disregard the poor and the

middle class and everydaY PeoPle in

this country. lt infuriates" me when I

see them ignore the economic realities

most of us live with and hear them

say, "lf you're not doing well in life, it's

because you're lazY and dont want to

work." I want to say to them, "HeY, You

probably started on third base, and you

want to condemn PeoPle who never

had a chance to get to first?" I want to

ask them, "How in your endless pursuit

of wealth did you let your heart grow

so hard?" I don't wish them ill, but l

definitely judge them as people who

have lost their humanitY.

Yes, l've changed with the Years,

and in general l'm haPPY about those

changes. l'm more tolerant in some

ways, less in others, and a lot more

ready to speak my mind and live my life

without apology. Let me just conclude

by saying that, all in all, I am not the

dumb kid I was once upon a time. But,

you know what they say, at least in

Indiana: We grow too soon old and too

late smar-t. Maybe you can grow smart at

a younger age than I did,

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First lmpressions

3. Brenoff describes ways in which she has

years. Are there ways in which you feel

ExpIain.

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GROWING LESS DUMB 285

grown "less dumb" over the

you've grown "less dumb"?

Freewrite for ten minutes on one of the following'

1. Did you enjoy reading this selection? Why or why not?

2. Brenoff describes herself as a lot more ready to speak her mind than she

used to be. Would you describe yourself as generally willing to speak

your mind? Or do you generally tend to keep quiet? Explain'

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Vocabulary Check

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a :. In the sentence below, the word whim means a

,+.. carefully thought out action.

s. sudden impulse:

c. suggestion bY someone else.

p, formal agreement'

-a 1 In the excerpt below, the term coter to means

A. annoy.e. explain.c. serve.

n. defend.

In the excerpt below, the

e. extremely feadul.e. confident.c. hopeful.o. excited.

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,,ln the area of Indiana where I grew up, shops cater to the tourists who

come to see the local Amish people, with their 1gth-century lifestyle and

horse-drawn buggies. One popular local souvenir sold in those shops is

kitchen plaques. . . ." (Paragraph 1)

word petrified means

"l imagine myself moving though life in a rigid shell of self-consciousness'

I was petrified that I might draw attention to myself by doing something

weird." (ParagraPh 1 1)

"Now, I sing in public; I speak up in meetings; I ask for extra napkins in

restaurants;l change my hair color on a whim'" (Paragraph 13)

286 PART TWO Fifteen Selections for Readers and Writers

Reading Check

Central Point and Main ldeas

I f . Which sentence best expre$Ses the central point of the selection?

t^3:Hffelievesthatshe,1ikemostpeople,hasspenttoomuchtime

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11"'f ?l!n. Brenoff has become less dumb in several important ways and hopes

that her readers will become less dumb, too'

-) Z The main idea of paragraphs 5-6 is that

A. most people can't remember what they worried about two weeks ago.

s. Brenoff now realizes that it was dumb of her to spend so much time

worrying.c. Brenoff used to worry that she would become friendless and

miserable because of a disastrous date.

p. Brenoff now realizes that she was dumb to worry about so much

about whether a cold would develop into strep'

Supporting Details

I :. When Brenoff was young, she often worried about

a.. being thought of as "cornY."

e . doing something "weird."c. not having enough money to fit inD. not going to the right college'

f +. One mistake that Brenoff made as a result of failing to take responsibility

for her decisions was

,r.. going to the prom with someone she didn't really like'

B. attending a college that didn't meet her needs'

c. marrying the brother of one of her friends'

o. voting for a politician who supported the death penalty for child

abusers. iiee;-rriia::i:i1:l.i E'

I S. An example Brenoff gives of how she has become more tolerant is that she

e.nolongerwishesillofpeoplewhoendlesslypursuewealth.B. now tolerates public officials with whom she disagrees'

c. now thinks of child abusers as human beings, not monsters'

o. no longer condemns people who never had a chance to get to first'

5er' ira|agIirPit I i

with the "normal" PeoPle.

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Inferences

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The Writer's Cra{t

o. She harshly judges politicianstax breaks for the wealthv and

colpofatlons.

GRowrNG LEss DUMB 287

In paragraph 12, Brenoff su-qgests thatit takes courage to stand out from the crowd.Brenoff was unwilling to stand out from the crowd in school."normal" people can be boringall of the above. 1k

; 7. We can conclude from the selection that

,t. today's young people are smarter than when Brenoff was young.e. Brenoff feels that as people grow older. they have fewer worries.

c. Brenoff enjoys life more today than she did when she was a teenager.

o. all of the above,

Argument

t 8. Which evidence from the selection supports Brenoff s statement that she

has more fun now than when she was 15?

e. For the most part, she can't remember the names of the "normal"people she knew in school,

e. She pays more attention to what our elected officials are doing.c. She sings in public, speaks out at meetings, and asks for extra

napkins at restaurants.

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I g. Brenoff begins her story by telling of the Amish plaques she used to see

in Indiana shops because.q. she knows that most people are very curious about the Amish way of

life.e. she admires the Amish. with their 1gth-century lifestyle and horse-

drawn buggies.c. she uses a saying on an Amish plaque to introduce the theme of her

essay.

o. she wishes she we{e still living in mral Indiana.

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who seem concerned mainly about

the best interests of banks and bis

fro288 PART TWO Fifteen Selections for Readers and Writers

Which of the foilowing statements best describes Brenoff's purpose inr.vnting this selection?a. To inform young people of the inevitable consequences of aging.

s. To entertain readers with amusing stories of her youth in Indiana.

c. To inform readers how much Amedcan life has changed since she

was a girl.

o. To gently persuade young peopie to won'y less. be more independent

in malcrng decisions, and become wiser in passing judgment on

others.

Discussion Questisns

L Brenoff ends her essay by saying that she hopes her readers grow smafi

at a younger age than she did. In what ways have you, like Brenoff,become "less dumb" than when you were younger? Do you think it'spossible to become "smart" at a young age? Why or rvhy not?

2. Brenoff says she now realizes that "the things I won'y about hardly ever

happen." Her worrying solved nothing; it only made her anxious and

depressed. Do you agree with Brenoff that worrying is a "dumb" way tospend one's time? Or is worrying sometines justified? Explain.

3. In Brenoff's opinion, people who condemn others tor not doing well inlife have "lost their humanity." Do you agree? Do you think that people

don't do well in life because they're lazy and don't want to work? Or are

there other reasons that some people don't succeed?

Brenoff thinks that whoever came up with the slogan "We grow too soon

old and too late smart" had realized something imporlant. Are there any

slogans or sayings that you think are particularly meaningful-maybeeven meaningful enor-rgh to live by? If so, explain what they are and whythey hold special meaning for you.

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Paragraph Assignments

1. In the selection, Brenoff states that she's come to the realization that the

things she wonies about hardly ever happen. Write about a time in yourhfe when you "woried yourself into a lather" about something. only to

have the problem disappear or get resolved. In writing your paper, be

sure to describe what the situation was that you found yourself worrying

about as well as how it got resolved.Altematively, write a paragraph describing something you worried

about that actually did happen, and how you dealt with it.

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