Why it's NOT always okay to "Strut Your Stuff Like a Peacock"

My feet are soar and dirty...


I'm all sweaty...


And I just had the best time of my life!


No, this is not another impromtu speech introduction, for those of you wondering!  This is the story of one of the most entertaining afternoons I've had in a while.  I'm so excited to tell this story that I hardly know where to begin. 


Let's start with a flashback of my classmate David Watterson and I arriving in Nairobi, Kenya.


(Envision squiggly lines and Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey yelling "Doodly doo, doodly doo, doodly doo)


We had just got off a flight from Cairo, and we needed to accomplish two major tasks:


1. Get cell phones for the summer
2. Get some much needed sleep


The cell phone part was easy.  The sleep, unfortunately, wouldn't come until much later.  But we were somewhat energetic and ready to meet our host in a couple of hours, so off we went to get cell phones.  We caught a cab to a large mall in Nairobi and within a matter of minutes we were in the cell phone shop buying our cool new phones (...they're not really that impressive).  We were done with the purchase so quickly that we didn't know what to do with the remaining time before our ride came to pick us up.  So we did what any young Americans surrounded by venues would do...we started shopping.  Mind you, we didn't have intentions of buying anything, but then again that's what many Americans do. 


While browsing we came across a shoe store where David found a pair of soccer cleats.  They were blue with a metallic imprint, on sale for $25, and they came with a free soccer ball.  It didn't take much rationalizing before David knew he had to get them, but for entertainment's sake I'll take you through the conversation: 
 (For those of you who know David Watterson, use your imaginations to remember what his surfer/chicago style voice sounds like)


Patrick:   David, look at these soccer cleats.  They're pretty cool.


David:   Yeah bro!  How much are those sweet kicks? (add affirmative head nod as needed)  


Patrick:   Let me do the conversion from Kenyan shillings to American dollars on the calculator on my new
phone (I can be such a geek at times...I know)


David:   Do it bro! (add affirmative head nod and grimace with strong jawbone)


Patrick:   Wow, they're only $25!


David:   Aw sweet!!!  And I think you get a soccer ball with em too!  Dude (pause for dramatic effect) I gotta have these shoes!


Patrick:  Okay


David:   I'm gonna totally play soccer in these this summer, and then get down with some ultimate frisbee when I get home!


Patrick:   Okay


And just like that, Watterson had a new pair of soccer cleats.


(End flashback)

Today around 4pm, I go tired of working on my Outlook calendar schedule and answering emails, and so I grabbed a soccer ball from inside the house and took it outside to play some games with the local children.  It started with just myself and Mora kicking and tossing the ball back and forth, and turned into a "block party" with too many children to count.  However, as the evening progressed children started to go back home, and to my surprise only 4 older boys (12-15 years old) were left in the front yard.  They were playing some sort of strange game with the soccer ball where one boy would be in the middle and the others would stand around him and try to kick the ball past him to another player on the outside. (Basically a version of "Keep-away" or "Monkey in the Middle")  I stood there for a while, watching the game and learning how to play until one of the boys pointed at me.  Using broken English he pointed to a spot outside of the middle and said "You stand here."  Looking down at my feet, I realized that I had sandals on while the other boys were all barefoot.  I rationalized that the grass in the front yard would be comfortable, and so I slipped them off and began to play the game.


About 10 minutes later who else but David Watterson comes "strutting" our way with the biggest smile on his face.  He is wearing his new soccer cleats for the first time and he is clearly proud of them.  As I see him confidently walking towards us I'm reminded of an earlier conversation I had with David where he informed me that one of his philosophies in life was to always "Strut Your Stuff Like a Peacock."  Essentially, what I think he was saying was that you should always take pride in yourself and the things you do.  (Well put David!)  We all invited him into the game and proceed to have the time of our lives.


(Let's pause here for a moment.  For David Monteith, Sarah Leer, Anna Strong, and anyone else who worked with me in a group this year, you know that I LOVE to make diagrams and charts.  So for the benefit of everyone who doesn't quite get the concept of the game: See Chart Below:)

You'll notice that there were 6 people total playing the game today.  Pay special attention to the cartoon figure with the blue shoes...That's David Watterson.  The rest of us were barefoot, so besides other differences, he stuck out like a sore thumb. 


We stood in a circular pattern around a person in the middle and the rules were simple:
1. The person in the middle starts with the soccer ball and can kick it to anyone
2. After the soccer ball is kicked to someone in the circle, you just kept moving it to "keep it away" from the person in the middle
3. If the person in the middle touches the soccer ball, they step into the larger circle, and the person outside who last touched it goes into the middle


(On with the story...)


The game was so much fun!  I was amazed at how fast and skilled these kids were.  I know that I'm still terrible at soccer (or futbol, as it's called here), but even I could see how much talent these children had.  As the game progressed, it became obvious who the person in the middle should kick the ball to if they wanted to get back into the larger circle.  It was either myself (because of my poor soccer skills) or a boy named "Dada" who got easily frustrated when you ran towards him.  After some time had passed, David Watterson got a bit of an ego because he hadn't been placed in the middle in a while. So he proceeded to make the following statement.
(Again, if you know David, use your surfer/chicago style voices here)


David:   Wow dude!  I haven't been in the middle in forever!  Looks like I'm the best soccer player here!


Patrick:   Or you have the best traction of any of us, so you can move around the easiest.


David:   Oh yeah!?! (Insert laughing)


Immediately after saying this, the ball comes flying David's way, and he misses an important kick to someone else in the circle.  The person in the middle comes running after the ball and gets a piece of it before David can respond.  Ahem...who's the best soccer player?  Then, after being placed in the middle, David spent more time there than anyone else, including me :)  Every time someone made a crucial kick past David's reach we would all start to scream at the top of our lungs as if we were a herd of gazelles that just escaped the clutches of a fierce lion.  It was amazing to see my classmate get schooled by a bunch of barefoot kids who took the greatest pride in keeping the ball away from him.


Therefore, I decree...
On this day, at that moment in time, and on this part on the planet, it is safe to say that it is NOT okay to strut your stuff like a peacock!