Tracy, you’re a very intelligent girl. You have a lot of admirable qualities. But one day maybe you’ll learn that being smart and doing whatever you need to do to get ahead, and stepping on other people to get there… well, there’s a whole lot more to life than that. And in the end you’re only cheating yourself.
This isn’t the time or the place to get into it, but there is, for just one example, a certain former colleage of mine, who made a very big mistake, a life mistake. Now, I think the lesson here is, old or young, we all make mistakes. And we have to learn that our actions, all of them, can carry serious consequences.
I agree. And I also think that certain young and naive people need to thank their lucky stars and be very, very grateful that the entire school didn’t find out about certain indiscretions that could have ruined their reputations and their chances to win certain elections.
Dave, I’m just saying this as your friend, what you’re doing is really, really wrong and you’ve gotta stop. The line you’ve crossed is… it’s immoral, and it’s illegal.
I’m not talking about ethics, I’m talking about morals.
You might ask if I ever saw Tracy Flick again. Well, I did, just once. I was down in Washington for a museum educators conference, and I stayed an extra day to do some sightseeing. After an inspiring morning on the Mall, I was on my way to the Holocaust Museum, when…
I’ll never know if she saw me. Probably not. But in that moment, all the bad memories, all the things I’d ever wanted to say to her, it all came flooding back. My first impulse was to run over there, pound on her window and demand that she admit she tore down those posters, and lied and cheated her way into winning that election. But instead, I just stood there. And I suddenly realised I wasn’t angry at her anymore, I just felt sorry for her. I mean, when I think about my new life and all the exciting things I’m doing, and then I think about what her life must be like… Probably still getting up at 5 in the morning to pursue her pathetic little dreams. It just makes me sad. I mean, where is she really trying to get to anyway? And what is she doing in that limo? Who the fuck does she think she is?
The sight of Tracy at that moment affected me in a way I can’t fully explain. Part of it was that she was spying, but mostly it was her face. Who knew how high she would climb in life? How many people would suffer because of her? I had to stop her, now.
“Mr. McAllister, Mr. McAllister, somebody tore down my posters, it’s not fair, it’s not fair. Can I get an A? Can I get a recommendation? Can I? Can I?” Fuck them.
Apples. Fine.
Let’s say all you ever knew were apples. Apples, apples, and more apples. You might think apples were pretty good, even if you got a rotten one every once in a while. But then one day…
…there’s an orange. And now you can make a decision, do you want an apple or do you want an orange? That’s democracy.
What happens to a man when he loses everything? Everything he’s worked for… everything he believes in? Driven from his home… cast out of society… how can he survive? Where can he go? New York City! For centuries people have come to New York seeking refuge from their troubled lives. Now I am one of them.
Linda never came home that night. I know, because I waited 10 hours waiting outside her house.
So would that make this an igneous rock or a sedimentary rock? What’s the difference between igneous and sedimentary anyway?
Tracy Flick. Tracy Flick. I’d seen a lot of ambitious students come and go over the years, but Tracy Flick, she was a special case.
