Pencil Christmas

I don't like to be bored. I try give myself every excuse I can to break free of doldrums of law school life and try to be as joyous as possible. One effect of this attitude is that I take ordinary occasions and arbitrarily announce them to be holidays. Today I had just the right excuse. Pencil Christmas.

At 11 this morning I was studying for my 1:30 exam when I realized that I didn't have a pencil to take it with. Thankfully for me Target is about a 5 minute walk through the skyway so I had the ability to pick out some school supplies with out too much trouble. When I got to the school supplies aisle I was met with the familiar dilemma of choosing which box to get. As you know, it is impossible to buy a single mechanical pencil in this market so essentially I had the choice between buying 5 high-end mechanical pencils for 4 dollars or 50 generic Target brand pencils for 5 dollars. I splurged. 

The reason for this decision is somewhat deeply ingrained in my character. I have a propensity to loose things and be somewhat hard on my own property. This being the case, it often makes more sense for me to buy a lot more of something lower quality then it does for me to buy a few of something which are high quality. I have bought cruddy pens and pencils before and yes there is a moment of annoyance when they break only a week after I have taken them out of their package, but that feeling is far outweighed by my comfort in the knowledge that I can loose 15 of these writing tools without being mad at myself.  Buying such a high quantity also allows me to be very charitable. 

I like giving things to people. I like to see a look of gratitude on people's face when they realize that I have helped them out even though I didn't have to. The expectation of this expression led me to offer everyone in my class pencils for the test. Many of them tried to give me the pencil back after the test was over. "No, no, no" I responded "This is Pencil Christmas... just pay it forward" and then I went on my merry way. 

I am not sure what my next holiday will be. I can't do them everyday because then they lose their power. The power of this decree I am able to make can't force anyone else to act any differently, but it changes my behavior. I become happier, more giving and more excited on days like Pencil Christmas. So if you happen to see me with a spring in my step, just ask me what holiday it is- and you can celebrate it to.