Juan Nieto
05-18-2016
Textual Revision
English 306: Advanced Nonfiction Writing
Erin Anderson
As the game is going on, and the ball hits the back of the net, my hair is growing. While the game is happening, my car is getting another layer of dust on top of the already existing dust over my car. As soon as I leave the pitch and get on my car, my car gets dirty and sweaty in the inside too. As I place the ball in the penalty kick spot and I wait for the referee to blow the whistle, I get my eye in the corner I want to place the ball in. Grass or artificial turf, I am getting dirty as time goes on. I wonder if all this time, getting a haircut, and a car wash, was because of soccer. Maybe the reason to look clean and sharp is soccer, and maybe if I wasn’t an athlete I bet I would not have to wash my car as much as I do. Or at least want it to look clean as much as possible because of how dirty it gets inside and outside.
As I try to recall I do not quite remember when it was that I started to relate haircuts and carwash together and do them during the same night. However, I am sure that when I first got my car I did not think of these two things as I do now. A car wash after the haircut, became a ritual of mine, to get rid of those layers of dust that accumulate on my car as the game is happening. I wonder if all this time, getting a haircut, and a car wash, was because of soccer. Maybe the reason to look clean and sharp is soccer, and maybe if I wasn’t an athlete I bet I would not have to wash my car as much as I do. Or at least want it to look clean as much as possible because of how dirty it gets inside and outside.
My barber Brito, always making jokes with every cut, every fade, and every customer, never seems to stop doing what he does best. Indirectly, soccer affects my decision making when choosing what haircut to get. Mohawk, Fohawk and Comovers are the most common ones soccer players get and the ones I often get too. Honestly, look at professional soccer players around the world. It seems as if it’s just a life style we soccer have, fancy haircuts, and shiny cars. Although mine is not a Ferrari like most pro players own. Is there a correlation among soccer, haircuts, and cars? What about ice cream, homework, and good grades? For some people maybe. Every two to three weeks I try to go to the barbershop and carwash on the same night. I know for a fact that some professional soccer players have their very own barber living in their house! I already told my barber that if I ever went somewhere far in soccer, he would be coming along.
Easy to imagine my mom going crazy in the stands while screaming my name as loud as possible. Funny how when she used to drive me to games she would be the one to tell me to go as hard as I can during every play, but then would complain that I stink on the way back home. At times during games, the ball would be about 100 yards in the air, and she would still want me to get to the ball up there. When it comes to haircuts, that’s another story with her. She loves when I come home all cleaned up from the barber, I think she prefers I don’t let my facial hair grow too much. However, when I come home with a haircut she hates, usually when is a really long Mohawk, meaning my sides are really short and my top and back are extremely long, she feels like kicking me out of the house. That’s why I do not get that haircut anymore, I don’t want to move out again and have to pay rent by myself.
Pieces of cut rubber from turf fields, migrate from the pitch into my cleats, my car, until they make their way into my room. Leaving traces throughout their entire journey that ends when I vacuum my room and get rid of them. I have to change my bed sheets every week and shower a lot because my mom says I have a strong body smell.
The luxuries of having a car are many as well. You get to drive wherever you want (as long as you have money for gas!). You do not need to rely on anybody’s time or schedule to get a ride somewhere, which I think it’s huge. That includes public transportation as there are many times where I hear how people end up being late to school or work because of MBTA delays. Going on road trips and adding miles to your car is a good way to explore other places you feel like visiting. When my car was my mom’s before she gave it to me, we had travelled to places such as Montreal, Cleveland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Washington D.C., and Cape Cod. At about 182,000 miles it’s hard to decide whether to keep spending money in order to fix whatever needs to get fixed, or start thinking about getting a new car. I don’t know how I would feel about leaving my very first car. Sometimes I feel that I would like to get a new car but other times I just want to keep updating my car and keeping it in good shape.
Does going to the gym before going to the liquor store on the weekend count as an example of what I do with haircuts and carwash? Cause I do that too. I think that going to the gym before going out on the weekend makes me feel that I’m not doing as much damage to my body as I would if I do not exercise before drinking. Killing two birds with one stone I’d say. But what if I never got into that habit? I wonder how my life would be if I did not have my car. How would my everyday commute be? I still have yet to make a full commute on public transportation from my house to school, but I know all I need to do is take the bus from Watertown Square to Harvard Station, the red line to JFK Station, and then the UMass shuttle to campus. My friends that do make that commute tell me it takes them about an hour or so for a one way. That would make a big difference in my life. I make it back home after school in about 25 minutes with no traffic. I hate walking during winter time, let alone the weather. And seeing how people did not have to go through the struggle of walking to school when it’s freezing in the morning, did not make it any more pleasant for me. When it’s nice outside however, I love going for a walk. Back then, as I made my way to school by foot, my hair was the only one growing. I didn’t have to worry about the car that wasn’t mine yet, getting dirty.