David Parker An Average Man - 1180 Words

Molly Wagschal Mr. Seland English 10-1 17 June 2015 All or Nothing David Parker was an average man. He was neither tall nor short. His hair, a graying brown, was an average length for a man. He was solidly middle class; he had a Honda Accord and a moderately priced house in the quiet New Jersey suburbs. Mr. Parker was frugal; he never made any frivolous purchases or bought anything without careful consideration. He had worked as an insurance agent at the same company for 30 years and planned to retire in ten years, when he was 65 years of age. He had been happily married for 32 years and had two daughters who had moved out a while before. Mr. Parker was content with his average life; he followed his daily schedule of eating a breakfast†¦show more content†¦David Parker hid his emotions, but he was deeply sad inside. One day, as Mr. Parker was eating his solitary dinner, he remembered an exchange he had had with his wife years before. His wife had suddenly wanted to drive all the way to Florida for the weekend to have a little getaway. â₠¬Å"Come on, David,† she said. â€Å"We never do anything on a whim! Everything is always so carefully planned out. Can’t we just for once do something impulsive?† Mr. Parker had replied with excuses; hotels were too expensive, Florida was too crowded at that time of the year, it would be too difficult to make arrangements with such short notice. Mary had acquiesced, but Mr. Parker could sense that she was disappointed at the lack of excitement in their lives. They planned a trip using his carefully saved vacation days for later in the year, but he knew it wasn’t the same for Mary; she wanted to do something impulsive and exciting. Mr. Parker decided to do something exciting and impulsive; his whole life he had been cautious and ordinary; now he wanted to do something extraordinary. He found an advertisement for a horse racetrack nearby, so he decided to take a trip on the weekend. He watched a few races without betting anything, but then he decided to place a small bet, two or three dollars, just for fun. The horse he bet on happened to win, and Mr. Parker laughed--he didn’t know anything about horse racing, but he coincidentally chose the winning