Every Friday night I teach a class of high-potential youth and although each kid in the class is extremely bright, there are three who stand out. I admired their consistency and determination, so last week I treated them to a day of fun away from their usual environment.
When I picked up the three girls from their respective homes, I gave each one of them an “Essentials Kit” that I prepared for them to use in case of emergencies and/or natural disasters. This kit had the following essential items inside:
- A 10oz box of Cap’n Crunch Cereal
- A pack of Lifesaver Gummies
- A Nature Valley Granola Bar
- An high-quality, amazing, stunning t-shirt, from a wonderful company that makes t-shirts (shameless plug)
- A misting spray bottle
- (2) Airheads
- Hand sanitizer
- Sunblock
- Tissues
- A lollipop
- Nestle Buncha Crunch
…you know, the essentials
Our first destination was New York City for a cruise around the island. During the 90 minute cruise, an earthquake took place and we didn’t feel it at all, so we basically owe it all to the essentials kit. If we were not equipped with three essentials kits, I don’t know what would have happened!!
We then drove up to Pennsylvania for a Segway tour of the Split Rock Resort. When they first saw the Segways, they were initially very scared of this magical machine that seemed to be controlled by the power of the mind, but after a thorough walkthrough by the tour guide and lots of practice in the parking lot, they were driving like professional mall cops! During our drive around the resort, we were approached by a deer, who just stared at the Segway with a bewildered expression. We were also chased by an angry dog with a bad hip. The chase lasted for about five seconds, then the dog gave up so to rest its tired hip.
We were safe and drove without any accidents until the last five minutes of the tour when we began to accidentally crash into things. My prior riding experience with the Segway didn’t help me much because I was the first person to crash and be thrown from the machine. I was riding along a bumpy path when I got the brilliant idea to accelerate at full speed into a rock, just to see how the Segway would react. Segway didn’t like this too much because it applied the brakes to the left wheel and accelerated the right wheel. I stepped off the machine to regain balance, but this caused it to flail around like a fish on dry land. I jumped off the machine and held onto it so it wouldn’t drive into the lake, but then it proceeded to DRIVE UP my leg. Ouch! Minutes later, two of the girls’ Segways touched wheels andcollided and the scooter didn’t like that too much either. Two minutes later, someone else’s Segway freaked out when she lost balance on the machine. This was a sign that we needed to end our Segway day. The machines didn’t like us anymore, but thankfully no one was even mildly injured.
On the drive back to New Jersey the girls used the opportunity to make friends, so they waved at the cars passing by us during our 70 mile journey down the highway. I realized that they made lots of friends when I looked at the cars around me and noticed that the people were trying their best to keep the same pace as me so they could wave to them again. I guess their plan worked. The waving ended when we entered New Jersey and the infamous NJ car drivers/passengers didn’t want to even crack a smile.
As the day came to an end, we went for ice cream and I returned each child to her home in one piece and without any damage. This experience was great because through it I was able to discover the secret to a smooth fatherhood: as long as my kids have an essentials kit and a helmet, it’s all smooth sailing!