Changing Views

Joseph Muth

Honors English Comp 708

Thursday 7:30 AM

September 21, 2017

Mrs. L Wolf

Paper #1

Changing Views

        We are all searching for a place where we have a purpose. From our youth to when we are elderly this quest for purpose is prevalent. Michael Gates Gill touches on this in his book How Starbucks Saved My Life. Gill delivers a great narrative of re-finding his purpose once his life is torn apart. Dalton was not just a small, little town for me; it was a new beginning where I could redefine who I was as a person. I would spend almost every minute of everyday there and that was just fine.Dalton will always be a great place for me, but certain events made me change my outlook on my favorite little town.

        Just as Gill talked about how his childhood life shaped the man he became, I believe Dalton shaped my life in a similar manner. Gill found comfort in his childhood home, “But my happiest memory was sitting with Mother on a steamer rug as she read to me” (Gill 60). Dalton meant more to me than just a place of comfort; it was a place where I could be with friends and enjoy everyone's company. When I would walk down Main Street and see Penny’s Pantry or Ambolina’s I would instantly get that feeling of warmth and happiness. We would go inside Penny’s and greet her with huge smiles. I remember very distinctly the smell of the bread that Penny would be baking. It felt like the perfect place to grow up. My friends and I would run up and down the streets yelling and laughing. Dalton offered refuge from the big bustling cities that scared me so much as a child.

        People have different views on areas, so naturally my friends and had our favorite parts of town

My favorite place would have to be the school park. I just felt a connection to that park; it is strange how you can feel connected to places. Gill describes his in his book when talking about his apartment, stating “The little apartment suited me” (71). The jungle gym may have looked scary and unsafe to most, but to me it was the perfect place to play. At sunset the cemetery next to the park gave me the creeps, but the view was worth every minute spent there; it was amazing. I was always amazed by the number of  people I would meet there. I made some of my greatest friendships at the park. It was very similar to the starbucks store for Gill in  that way.

        As I grew older I realized that my little town wasn’t quite as perfect as it seemed. It was stricken with poverty. When I got my license and was able to go further than just the main road, I was able to see how run down some of the houses were. As I got to highschool I started to notice the serious drug problem that was spreading throughout the student body. My little town had started to seem more like the big cities and it scared me. I had tried to shut out these problems for a while, but then it occurred to me that that would do nothing to fix them. So I need to start to do something about it I have started talking to friends about what we can do to solve some of these issues.