When I was growing up I had this friend, lets call him Fleezy. (You know who you are)  At the time (8th grade) I thought he had it all.  It wasn’t until around the end of high school that I figured out what made him so cool and popular.  He had learned a very simple lesson he had tried teaching me years before…

The year was 1998 and we were in the 8th grade…

Ken Starr was about to go after Clinton for getting some head

The FDA approves Viagra and our seniors go from just petrified to petrified wood

Jesse Ventura body slams his way into the governorship of Minnesota

And Google begins its quest for information domination

Meanwhile back in the 8th grade and I was in the middle of attempt #2638 of trying to dunk.  Now as a young adolescent black male, being able to play basketball was as an important a skill as a girl knowing how to do her hair.  And learning to dunk was like learning a french braid. (or whatever you ladies do with your hair these days to make it look all fancy)  As I came crashing back down to earth from yet another failed attempt, Fleezy, who made it look so effortless (he made it look like he came out the womb dunking), gave me one line of advice.  “Don’t Try So Hard.” He said to me.  I looked at him like he was crazy and he gave me a crazy look right back.  It didn’t make any sense to me.  How would I be able to jump that high without trying my hardest?  At the time I was really immature but I wasn’t stupid and I couldn’t argue with advice on dunking from somebody who does it in his sleep.  I decided to give it a try.  I decided that instead of my normal strategy of clinching my butt cheeks like I was going to jail, that I would just do it without thinking.  And it like somebody lowered the already bent rim down a few feet as I easily glided up and dunked.  When I landed I felt like superman and after that, dunking was child’s play and I understood how Fleezy felt.  I looked at him and he just smiled and turned around to leave, recess was over.

Flash Forward to Homecoming Senior Year

I had gone through all of the normal awkward stages that a high school kid goes through and made it out alright.  I was fairly well-known, not a hard feat in a class so small.  I had learned a lot about life through my extra curricular activities (Another Story for Another Day) and applied those life lessons in school.  I was still immature though and was still trying to find myself and who I was as a person.  Homecoming was coming soon and earlier that year I decided to actually go to everyone of the dances that year since I skipped everyone before for reasons I probably shouldn’t have. (Another Day I Promise)  As with most kids my age I wanted to be popular and because of my training in other areas I knew how to accomplish that goal.  Just like a few years earlier I knew what I needed to do in order to dunk.  Of course the challenge is in the doing.  And just like back then I tried so hard to fit in and be popular.  And once again i saw Fleezy making it look so easy.  And once again I decided to try that advice he gave me so long ago.  This is where OC (at the time it stood for Out of Control) was born.  Without trying I just let my natural side take over and I acted without thinking, making friends left and right and deepening the bonds I had already made.  I learned who I really was without effort and was crowned the Homecoming King that year.

The blue was royal that night

The Lesson Still Applies Today

To this day, I use that simple yet powerful lesson I was taught on the playground so many years ago.  It always hits me like a lightning bolt whenever I keep bumping my head against the wall on a problem I’ve been killing myself to solve.  For instance, today I was working on a website for a client and as anybody who writes any kind of code can tell you, its the smallest errors that can make a mess out of everything else. (Kinda like there are no small parts, only small actors.  But these actors are more like extras that make silly faces during the slow-motion dramatic scene messing it all up)  Well I searched and I searched but couldn’t find that damn error until Fleezy appeared unto me like a dream and within his golden-white robes he spoke to me and uttered this phrase, “Don’t Try So Hard.”(I really gotta stop drinking those iced coffees at midnight)  Ok so it wasn’t as profound as all that but I remembered what he said.  I stopped looking so hard and just generally scanned the code until I found the culprit, an extra comma. (yea I said a “,”)  Which I would have never found by looking at the code in such a complicated way.  I think its kinda funny that I always forget that lesson only to remember it right as I need it.

My Sworn Enemy and Grammatical Friend