Quiddity (an actual essay for honors sem)

Life is a great big Scrabble game. We don’t have any say in whether we play first, last or in the middle. And we certainly don’t control which tiles we have to work with. Sometimes we get all vowels, and we feel like we can’t do anything of consequence. Other times we’ll have the Q, J and X all at the same time and won’t be able to form a word at all. Even if we can spell one of the big point words like “quixotry” or “quizzing,” there isn’t always a place for it to be played.
We learn to play mean and take a triple-word space with “sad,” in order to keep the next person from playing “joviality” and racking up some major points. We’ve decided that if we can’t do well ourselves, it’s better to make sure no one else can either.
Sometimes in life it can feel like we are the Scrabble tiles ourselves. We may think ourselves to be generic vowels, useful but not special and definitely interchangeable. Some people with inflated egos consider themselves the Q, the highest point letter of them all. But the Q is as much a curse as a blessing, since it is almost impossible to play without a U. Even the most important person needs support to really accomplish anything. Oftentimes, the most valuable letter of all is the S. Simple, unassuming S. It is the most versatile letter in the alphabet and can fill almost any role, whether it be lengthening the word to reach a triple-word bonus or attaching the coveted 7-letter word to an otherwise inaccessible board. But as in life, it’s always the showy, big letters that get the credit and the praise. Go figure.



Check out your handy-dandy Scrabble dictionaries to find the definitions of anything I used that doesn't make sense. Trust me, there is a reason for the title.

Anyway, today I feel a bit like an overused S, and I want to take a nap. Maybe after that I'll feel more like a K, which I think is closer to what I should be. We'll see if anyone agrees with that and can explain why.

Oh, and I'll rant about Seussical in another post. I don't feel like making this one that long. Don't worry, the show will be great. We just have a few things to work out tonight.

-Kim