A Pop Isn’t Worth It - Teens Talk

The Grand Rapids TimesFebruary 29, 2008 Issue
Teens TalkBy Marcel Gamble

I am sure that everyone remembers watching at least one or two cowboy western movies. In an action packed cowboy western, a cowboy may endure a tremendous amount of pain and mysteriously still have enough strength to get back up and fight. Many people don’t understand that life isn’t a western movie and cowboys now aren’t getting up from the pain that is inflicted upon them. People in the streets can’t take 6 to 7 gunshot wounds to the body and live hours later to say their goodbyes to their families. This past weekend, I was shocked when I discovered that first hand that life we live is not an old cowboy western. This past weekend I discovered that a pop isn’t worth it – after completely putting my life in danger. After entering the gas station and purchasing a pop, and then exiting the gas station, as I walked to my car, I noticed something that was very wrong. There was a man sitting in the driver seat of my car, looking around for something on the inside of my car. As I tapped the window and glanced into the car, I noticed that the man appeared badly beaten, and he was bleeding uncontrollably. The man sitting in my car had gotten in to an altercation with someone earlier in the day and was not able to just get up and brush off his injuries like a cowboy. To be honest with you all, I was at a crossroad; I didn’t know what to do. I began to contemplate on whether I should put my life in jeopardy and try to remove the man from my car myself. I quickly decided that removing him wasn’t an option. He could have been waiting for me to get within arms reach, and he could have tried to stab me or anything. I immediately called the police when I realize that the pop I had in my hand wasn’t worth it. Sometimes, when we want things, we really don’t pay attention to our surroundings; and, we put our lives in jeopardy everyday. The man in my car probably would have stolen my car if I had left the keys in it. I had to endure a whole night of drama just for one pop. By the way, that pop wasn’t worth it. As Christians, we have to be aware that even though we are closer to God, evil still lurks around us. The Saturday night that the incident occurred, I was just on my way back from a church event; and evil still managed to catch up with me. Being Christians, doesn’t mean that we are invincible to the world. So, I just want to inform you all that we have to be aware and keep our eyes open because our lives aren’t worth a pop. God really had my back this weekend. He surely was the only thing that stopped me from making the decision of pulling the man out of my car by myself. He placed the man in my car to show me that life is not a Cowboy western and people are affected in many ways by the violence that occurs in my neighborhood. God wanted me to know that people become actors in old cowboy westerns because things blind them of their surroundings. People should really take the time out to think about their actions because life isn’t worth a pop. I’m going to leave you all with this, Proverbs 22:3“A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”