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Engineering Endeavors

People like to say that I'm a rather strange sort of man: that I'm different and an outsider. I always go my own way, not afraid to be unique.

That, actually, is the opinion of the minority. The majority just say I am insane and leave it at that.

One day, which was a quite lovely day I might add, I got an urge to go and study engineering. Now, most people would just forget it and go on living their boring lives, but me, being unique (or insane, for that matter), knew that I absolutely had to see engineering in action. As I ate my morning marshmallows and read my morning newspaper, I noticed a headline that said "Lifting Bridge Opening Today! Come See Great Engineering in Action". And since that was exactly what I knew that morning I had to do, I decided to go for it. I wasn't too happy about leaving behind the marshmallows, but knew that I had to be strong and resist the temptation for the sake of knowledge. It was now or never.

I arrived five hours early, and it was a good thing I did. In just four hours, the crowd had already increased to three people, and the pushing and shoving had potential to turn fatal. As the crowd slowly grew larger, I waited with bated breath for the moment of triumph. Turning around, I saw hundreds of bright, shining faces not even daring to blink from the anticipation. I shared similar feelings, and hurriedly turned back around to face the newly constructed bridge. It was definitely a work of pure genius: the glistening iron winked in the sun and the cables showed their determination by not even swinging in the wind. It seemed that the whole world was ready to experience engineering at its best.

And experience it we did. The bridge slowly creaked into action as a ship meandered through the gap formed by its two parts. I cheered loudly, overcome by emotion. It was simply fantastic; It was simply marvelous; It was simply stupendous! The road broke apart so gracefully, and the cables moved to lift the bridge in an elegant and perfected fashion. I began wishing that I had brought a tissue.

But then my heart almost stopped. My mind had wandered away from the wonder in front of me for a split second, and what I thought of made my blood boil. I had left my marshmallows unattended and uneaten in my apartment. I couldn't believe that I had been to throughtless- so careless! My thirst for knowledge had overcome my thirst for sugar for a moment, and look what foolish things I had done!

The bridge's intricate mechanism enticed me, though. I couldn't think of marshmallows as I stood in front of such an amazing bridge.

Or could I? A little voice in my head told me that I could. That it was all right: that many generations had scorned knowledge when offered some food. Was I one of them? My confusion caused my cheer to turn into a high-pitched shriek of inner turmoil.

Then I decided that I was just a fool. Food was calling me, and I was a poop-head for ignoring it. As the bridge lowered, and the operators allowed people on the bridge, I ran in front of everyone and gave a defiant scream, "Food here I come!"