Dog Police

Palaios sat in the backseat like he always did, hidden behind the tinted windows and on the floor of the van. His brown German Shepherd eyes darted from my hands on the steering wheel to the rain battering the windshield. Neos, the Siberian Husky sitting in the passengers seat, groomed his grey and white fur, looking his best as always. He didn't need to be sitting straight-backed, displaying his magnificent fur coat, because pedestrians could see him clear enough already; pasted on the side of the van was a photo of him wearing a cop-hat, in mid-stride, chasing a criminal. Overlapping the image were the printed words: Dog Police.

Our unit had worked hard tonight; we had taken care of three separate cases of attempted burglaries. Palaios had performed well, and had managed to chase down every single suspect. However, Neos always outshone him. Neos was always present to perform some sort of last-minute, heroic act that would nab the criminal for me. Sometimes he would even act out of impulse, something that him and Palaios were trained never to do. But it just got the job done.

Suddenly, my radio sounded: "We have armed-men in the bank on Jun & Ior Avenue, we need you there now. Over."

Fear gripped my heart, and while my brain was frozen, my hands automatically engaged the turn signal necessary to make it to the bank. Not only were armed robberies the most dangerous for the Dog Police, but the bank at Jun & Ior was rumored to be one of the most difficult areas to chase down criminals.

I turned around and saw Palaios, looking tired as ever, begin to stand up. His weak legs were shaking and the bald patches in his fur stood out more than usual. Even Neos seemed lethargic as he gathered himself for the task ahead. Mystery surrounded the new case on Jun & Ior; would Neos break the rules again to finish the job? Would my two dogs even survive the operation?  We all felt slightly burnt out after the three cases we had earlier, but we still had some energy left in store.

Watch out Junior Year, the Dog Police are here!

Priorities

Nowadays, with an increasing amount of activities filling up a rigid time frame, there is always the problem of deciding what to devote your time to. When we decide what to do, we are influenced by the people we know, the events that have happened, and our own preferences.. Encompassing all these influences, in my opinion, are two categories: short-term and long-term. Whether or not one gives an action priority depends on whether or not one looks at the consequences in the near future or in distant future.

This issue came up recently when I had trouble deciding what path to follow: study fastidiously for standardized tests or continue to participate in sports at Uni. Looking at this conundrum through my short-term lenses, or perhaps my parents', the former path seemed more logical. I sacrifice a portion of my social life and some of my physical health for a better chance of entering a well-acclaimed institution of higher learning. Imagining myself standing in my 25-year-old shoes, studying hard for these tests clearly seemed like the right choice. My parents would be as proud as I would be if I got into a good school. I would be surrounded by intellectuals and I would be getting payed high salaries. I probably improved the quality of my life significantly by getting accepted into this great college.

You may be wondering why I categorized this as a short-term priority, because it seems so far away. Let us take a bigger step back.

I now imagine myself standing in my 65-year-old shoes, and suddenly devoting huge amounts of time to these tests seem kind of foolish. When I think of my teenage-years, will I remember the long hours studying into the night, or the happy moments that I spent with my cross-country and track teammates? More importantly, will I want to relive those tedious moments? No, I'd want to remember myself as a playful youth rather than a child who wants to grow up too fast. True, getting into a better college may beget more great memories than a sports-season can, but they won't be the same.

Routines and Whims

I thrive on the predictability of my day. Take the two-egg scramble that I make for breakfast as an example: I turn the stove on HI for about two minutes, lather the skillet with prodigal amounts of extra-virgin olive oil, crack two eggs on the skillet and watch it sizzle. After waiting about ten seconds for the eggs to solidify, I demolish the unmarred surface of the egg with a metal spatula, until the egg is sufficiently scrambled, and I put it onto a medium-sized plate. You can see me perform this ritual twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at around 7:00 AM.

Conversely, I take even more pride in being able to act in a whimsical manner once in awhile. Recently, after an argument with my parents over my time commitment to extracurriculars, I suddenly decided to vent my anger in an outward direction instead of the usual inward grudge. I grabbed the long-bladed shovel from the garage and set to work on the empty grassland next to my house. I tore up the long grass, mashed up the dry dirt, and blackened my hands. Soon I was standing on a pile of dark soil, oblivious of the mud seeping through my socks, peering down into a hole that was as deep as my knee (trust me, I stood inside the hole to check). Digging this hole was my catharsis; I had uncovered the dirt that was weighing me down and now I felt emptied of my anger. When I felt sufficiently cleansed, I cut a few long stalks of wild grass down and lay it over the hole in a lattice. Walking back into my house, I was a bottle of mixed emotions. The scowl on my face to show my parents belied the joy that was within me. I had something special in that lot next to my house, and it was my secret. Digging the pit was like pulling the flush on a toilet; if things got too piled up, I could simply flush it out of my thoughts by working on this hole.

Reaching the equilibrium between structured and unstructured living is a goal in all of our lives, and one that no one achieves. But that is the struggle that makes life interesting and full of the surprises that characterize it.