| The Kool -Aid
Wino Rewrite: Positive Position By Kristi Livingston The boy in the story "The Kool -Aid Wino" has received a bad rap. He has been misunderstood and berrated for his no-nonsense attitude. His normal need to enjoy life has been mistaken for laziness, and his passion for Kool-Aid has been described as an unnatural and unhealthy obsession. I found his explanation of why he didn't change for bed to be quite humorous and refreshing. He said, "Why bother? You're only going to get up anyway. Be prepared for it. You're not fooling anyone by taking your clothes off." This boy has taken his own beliefs, stepped away from what society considers proper, and thinks to Hell with silly tradition! He has a fierce sense of individuality that shines through his no-nonsense attitude. Also, it has been argued that the boy was lazy. Some people feel that because his rupture made him unable to do hard, physical labor, he should assume all the household responsibilities. When the boy passed his younger brothers and sisters and didn't change their diapers, people immediately reacted with contempt. However, this was a young boy. Why was it his responsibility to take care of the babies? Isn't that a mother's job? I believe this is a normal child that is simply trying to enjoy his day, as all young children should. Also, the boy never said that he wouldn't do the dishes, he just wouldn't do the dishes before he tended to his favorite part of the day ... his Kool-Aid making. Last, and most important, the boy had found a true passion for life through his Kool-Aid. It was during this ceremony that he was able to forget about his handicap and the intense poverty and chaos that surrounded him. It seemed as if he could consume himself fully with his task. This was the one thing that the boy could do without help from others. This was the one thing that the boy could do that gave him a true sense of independence from his family. Now tell me, what's unhealthy in that? I think the Kool-Aid wino is a positive, rather than a negative fellow. What was mistaken as a terrible "I- don't-care" attitude, is actually a wonderful no-nonsense approach to life. What some people looked at as laziness, I took for what it was ... a boy with a handicap who lived his life in a way that made him happy. And fmally, his obsession with his Kool-Aid was not unlike a swimmer's passion for the water. He had practiced and perfected his own art, and found his purpose and place in life through his Kool-Aid reality. Back
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