The Spectacles
Every day we could go through the exact same day as someone else and have completely different impressions and experiences of the day. The perspective that we perceive each day frames each moment of our lives. Depending on what lens of perspective is guiding our view, life can vary.
The following short story is basically the same story repeated three times. Although the stories are all about the same day experienced by the main character, Liam, each reiteration has some intentional differences. Can you spot all differences?
Hope, you all enjoy this quick story. What perspective glasses have you been wearing today?
The Spectacles
By: Monica Tews
February 21 – Red Glasses
I committed one of the major crimes of the world. I had turned off the first two alarms my phone’s lending way to waking up to the third alarm. Shoot! I am going to be late for class.
I grabbed my red glasses from the bed stand, jumped out of bed, and put on some clothes. In less than five minutes I was out of my apartment and in my car to head to class. On the way to class, I hit traffic. I sometimes hit the morning traffic, but this was different from usual morning traffic. When I made my way closer to what was the problem site for this unusual traffic, I saw that the source of the trouble was a car accident. You needed to have an accident today? Hold everyone up. Now I am really going to be late.
“Nice to finally see you, Liam.” The professor greeted me interrupting his spot in the lecture as I found my way to the last available seat.
This class was not in my major and was boring. I’m a BIO major simply trying to fill in the final GEN ED credit needed to graduate through a philosophy class. What am I going to do with philosophy? Why would I be using philosophy later in my career? Good questions to which I do not have the answers. Whatever. Also, the professor can be condescending at times. His lecture topic today seems to be on some guy named René Descartes who kept repeating a Latin phrase “Cogito ergo sum.” All that is probably nice and all but all I could think about was could this go any longer?
At least I had the Unincorporated Incorporated concert to look forward for tonight with my friends. The rest of the day was a drag until I was able to meet up with my friends to head to the concert. I was all hyped up until one of my friends said that they spotted online that the concert was unexpectedly cancelled due to a family emergency of the band. You gotta be kidding me. Such unique songs that stab me in the heart and mind with their lyrics, and now I feel like they stabbed me in the back. Et tu Unincorporated Incorporated?
Well, instead of the concert we decided to go divert our plans to eating at this combined bakery sandwich shop which I wanted to go to experience. If I could not see the concert, I am determined to see what the hype everyone has been talking about. My friends and I got to the door to see that the doors to the establishment are locked. The online page said that they would be open tonight, but they were not. Apparently this was because of renovations. Whatever.
Instead, my friends and I all went to choose from one of the nearby food places. The place we decided on was a taco place. The tacos were decent, but it’s hard to be in the mood for tacos when all you really want are giant chocolate chip cookies which are larger than the thirteen inch sandwiches. I had some of the food but brought the rest back as leftovers. What a day.
February 21 – Yellow Glasses
I committed one of the major crimes of the world. I had turned off the first two alarms my phone’s lending way to waking up to the third alarm. Shoot! I am going to be late for class.
I grabbed my yellow glasses from the bed stand, jumped out of bed, and put on some clothes. In less than five minutes I was out of my apartment and in my car to head to class. On the way to class, I hit traffic. I sometimes hit the morning traffic, but this was different from usual morning traffic. When I made my way closer to what was the problem site for this unusual traffic, I saw that the source of the trouble was a car accident. I hope that the people involved are all okay.
“Nice to finally see you, Liam.” Professor Rursus greeted me while interrupting his spot in the lecture as I found my way to the last available seat.
This class was not in my major but it was alright. I’m a BIO major simply trying to fill in the final GEN ED credit needed to graduate through a philosophy class. What am I going to do with philosophy and a philosopher named René Descartes? I do not know yet but I feel there must be some reason. Plus, Professor Rursus has tried during class to make it enjoyable.
All day I had the Unincorporated Incorporated concert to look forward towards for tonight with Shawn and Ralph. The rest of the day moved along well as I prepared to meet up with my friends to head to the concert. I was all hyped up when all of a sudden Shawn said that they spotted online that the concert was unexpectedly cancelled due to a family emergency of the band. That was unfortunate. The Unincorporated Incorporated have such unique songs that stab me in the heart and mind with their lyrics. At least I could listen to their songs with my friends as we decide on our next adventure.
Instead of the concert we decided to go divert our plans to eating at this combined bakery sandwich shop which I wanted to go to experience. If I could not see the concert, I am determined to see what the hype everyone has been talking about around town. We got to the door to see that the doors to the establishment were locked. The online page said that they would be open tonight, but they were not. Apparently this was because of renovations. I sure hope it looks pretty cool whatever they are doing to improve it.
Instead, we all went on to choose from one of the nearby food places. The place we decided on was a taco place. The tacos were pretty great. In fact, I may have found my new favorite place for tacos. I had some of the tacos and even brought back food as leftovers for tomorrow. What a day.
.
February 21 – Orange Glasses
I committed one of the major crimes of the world. I had turned off the first two alarms my phone’s lending way to waking up to the third alarm. Shoot! I am going to be late for class.
I grabbed my orange glasses from the bed stand, jumped out of bed, and put on some clothes. In less than five minutes I was out of my apartment and in my car to head to class. On the way to class, I hit traffic. I sometimes hit the morning traffic, but this was different from usual morning traffic. When I made my way closer to what was the problem site for this unusual traffic, I saw that the source of the trouble was a car accident. I am rather grateful that I am safe in my car so far in my driving career. Out of the five and half years of having my driver’s license, I have not gotten in one car accident or even been pulled over. Regardless of the uncommon morning car accident, this traffic is a good reminder that I need to make sure to leave a fair amount of extra time in the morning to accommodate for the traffic.
“Nice to finally see you, Liam.” The Professor Rursus greeted me while interrupting his spot in the lecture as I found my way to the last available seat.
This class was not in my major, but I was trying to make the most of the situation. I’m a BIO major simply trying to fill in the final GEN ED credit needed to graduate through a philosophy class. What am I going to do with philosophy? Why would I be using philosophy later in my career? I did not know answers to these questions; however I was trying my best to find what knowledge I could transfer from Professor Rursus’ philosophy class. For instance, the lecture topic today was about a philosopher named René Descartes who spoke on how thinking in a way showed a duality of mankind so that man has a separation of the mind and body. Thankfully, that man coined a popular Latin phrase, “cogito ergo sum,” so I learned a little bit of a dead language today. Who else could say that they did that every day?
All day I had the Unincorporated Incorporated concert to look forward towards for tonight with Shawn and Ralph. The rest of the day moved along quite well and I even learned more than I thought I would after leaving class. By the time I looked up at the clock in my room, it was time to meet up with Shawn and Ralph to head to the concert. I was all hyped up when all of a sudden Shawn said that they spotted online that the concert was unexpectedly cancelled due to a family emergency of the band. That was unfortunate. The Unincorporated Incorporated have such unique songs that stab me in the heart and mind with their lyrics. I will see them perform live eventually, but in the meantime I will be grateful that I have their songs to listen until that time does arrive.
Instead of the concert we decided to go divert our plans to eating at this combined bakery sandwich shop which I wanted to go to experience. If I could not see the concert, I am determined to see what the hype everyone has been talking about around town. We got to the door to see that the doors to the establishment were locked. The online page said that they would be open tonight, but they were not. Apparently this was because of renovations. At least I know this now and can keep an eye out for when they open again.
Thankfully, we all went on to choose from one of the nearby food places instead. The place we decided on was a taco place. The tacos were pretty great. In fact, I may have found my new favorite place for tacos. I had some of the tacos, but I could not finish all of them. Thankfully, I was able to bring home some leftovers, so that I was covered for lunch the following day. I am thankful for many parts of today and learning throughout it. What a day!
The End
Here is a Spotify playlist which I created while coming up with this short story.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2hHAZEZB0euDDS4DdS2cXJ
