How was Least Heat-Moon an example of a person who “sits around and wait for the world to poke them” (395)?
Least Heat-Moon waited for tragic events before he did something that would change him. The things that “poked” him were his divorce and his loss of work. He waited until after these things occurred before he went our and did the things that he obviously really wanted to do.
I had a friend whose mother passed away when we were in 11th grade. She was a very strong girl and had to be the rock for her father in fall on. It wasn’t long before her father started dating a new woman. She was outraged that he could move on so fast. She tried to keep her felling in and she did pretty well for a while. Then, out of nowhere little things started to happen. She met a boy who got her into doing drinking. The casual drinking led to binge drinking. Then things got a lot worse. The same boy got her into doing drugs. Then, a few months later she found out she was pregnant with his child. After things didn’t go so well once her father found out, she ran away from home. Her father called the cops and reported her missing. When the cops found her, she punched one of them and had to be taken to jail for a few days. It took all of these things for her father to realize how badly she was hurting inside. Thankfully, they are both healthier and once again a family.
It is a sad reality of how many people actually act in this way. Most people need events to “poke” them before they realize what is going on and change their lives. Does anyone feel the same was or have a different view?
