Step Back From the Baggage Claim by Jason Barger

Author:Jason Barger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: One Love Publishers

Notes

“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.” - William Arthur Ward

Choose Your Own Adventure

WHEN I WAS A KID, Choose Your Own Adventure books were extremely popular. They were innovative for kids. Imaginative, exciting, and participatory—everything a growing kid enjoys! Originally published from 1979 to 1998 by Bantam Books, they went on to become one of the most successful children’s book series of all time.

They were written in second-person. For example, there might be a story about a cross-country bicycle race (work with me on this; I don’t remember any of the exact plots of the books, but the concept is imaginative) when, all of a sudden, the reader would have a choice to make regarding which path the character would take. To choose the path to the left (a gravel road), turn to page 46. To choose the path to the right (a steep incline ahead), turn to page 61. Or, to choose the off-road dirt path (that appears to be a shortcut), turn to page 77. Each option provided only partial information on which to assess the situation.

For an imaginative child, the exercise was exhilarating. The reader had to make decisions for the adventure to continue. The amusing thing about the decision was, without fail, after reading only a few pages of your chosen path, you were peeking back to see how the other options would have played out. You just had to compare your choice with the other paths. Once you finished one path in its entirety, you felt compelled to go back and read how the other scenarios played out. Some paths that seemed exciting at first didn’t end up being the wildest stories. Some paths that at first appeared to be the safe, boring routes, were in fact the ones that ended with a thrilling twist. And, like every good story, a surprise was always around the corner. Throughout the entire adventure, you were constantly comparing the different paths and the different outcomes with your choices.

As I stare at the jam-packed security lines at Miami International Airport, I can’t help but compare life to one big Choose Your Own Adventure story. Just like someone coming to the abrupt end of one of those moving walkways where their body stumbles for a second in order to return to a slower pace, the bustling crowd approaches the security lines with a fury, but then jolts into a slower gear. Each individual weaves in and out of the rope lines until they reach the point in the security line where it breaks up into three, four, five, even up to eight different paths leading to the x-ray machines. You can see the agonizing look creep across some people’s faces as they are forced to make a quick decision regarding their path; perhaps a flashback to their own Choose Your Own Adventure days.

The pressure’s on, so they have to gather as much information as they quickly can. These are the

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