Archive for the 'Stories' Category

Years

Published
by
Richard Mondello
on September 11, 2008
in Dover, Ricky and Stories
. 0 Comments

One year ago, I wrote this:

I had an intense experience this morning, and I’ll never forget it. At Dover Middle/High School, HS Student Council members have to say the pledge and read the morning’s announcements each day. This month is my assigned month (and some other people’s), and I had an additional duty this morning. Directly after saying the pledge, I was to instruct the student body to remain standing for a moment of silence to remember everyone impacted or stolen from us six years ago.

While reciting the pledge and this unique announcement, I became very emotional. I was certain that I would be fine before doing it, but upon saying, “I pledge,” I felt immensely sad. Completing sentences was painful, and I’m amazed that I was able to finish the task without stopping completely.

It was obvious that I was troubled by the task, but people were kind enough not to say anything to me about it. I wish I didn’t have to do that this morning. To a much greater extent, I wish no one had to.

That morning was one of the most profound experiences in my life. I remember it, second by second, in its entirety. One year later, the memories of seven years ago elicit the same emotional response from me. My most sincere condolences to those affected by that day.

Retribution

Published
by
Richard Mondello
on March 27, 2008
in Dover, Rants, Ricky, Stories and Tympanoplasty
. 6 Comments

As I said I would, I went straight to the Middle/High School Principal today. After telling her my story, she was appalled; she dropped what she was doing and went straight to work on investigating the incident.

By mid-day, the student was punished. As I type this post, he’s sitting in a three-hour detention session. More importantly, his privilege of using the school weight room in the evening has been “suspended until further notice”. Also, word has gotten around about the incident to people who matter - his coaches and teachers.

Although all of this brings me no joy, I hope he’s learned a lesson.

I seriously doubt it, though.

…

I’d also like to thank everyone for their concern and kind words. No, really, thank you. You all comforted me during a very difficult time in my life. For that, I’m grateful. Another set of thanks to my High School’s administration and people who care about setting things right.

By the way, in the alternate reality where I didn’t restrain myself, I would have been suspended for at least one day. That would have went on my record, which would have been passed on to whatever college I attend. In the end, I played my cards right, despite my lackluster hand.

Random Act of Unkindness

Published
by
Richard Mondello
on March 26, 2008
in Dover, Rants, Ricky, Stories and Tympanoplasty
. 13 Comments

I got an hour of sleep this morning. I couldn’t stop mulling over where I’m going to go to college and other things. I knew that my day would be exhausting.

Fast forward to this afternoon. My Dad wanted to take his motorcycle to a repair shop. He was going to make a drop off, and I was going to pick him up to bring him home. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication, and I drove to the wrong shop. That mistake cost both of us an hour and a fair amount of gasoline.

Forget it. Not a big deal.

Immediately afterward, I had to run some food up to the school for my sister, who was at drama rehearsal. Because my day was going so poorly, I was glad to do this favor; it would make me feel like a good brother and a little better. After all, I love my sister.

After dropping the food off, I was still agitated from my subpar day. I walked outside the school and saw a bench. It was warm outside and there was a slight breeze; it was perfect. I decided that to calm down and just feel better, I would lay down on this bench, close my eyes, and daydream. It’s something I’ve done often over the last six years here at Dover Middle/High School. I thought Dover was the kind of place where you can do something like that and feel safe. I was infinitely comfortable, safe, and secure.

…

Water. Someone was pouring water onto my head. A middle school boy who I’ve never met was pouring water, from a bottle he was drinking out of, onto my head. Water. I just went for invasive ear surgery. If I got my ear wet, I’d be very sick and in excruciating pain for at least a week. More drastically, it could ruin my surgery. For no reason, this boy was pouring water onto my head.

I jumped up, appalled. I’m not going to lie to you, I lost it. In front of one witness, a school substitute teacher, I verbally let loose on this kid. Out of all of the instances in my life where violence was seemingly appropriate, this was number one.

But - I restrained myself. I don’t believe that violence solves problems, and I’m proud I stuck with my values.

I’m just having a hard time believing that a young man can just walk up to another man, an older man taking a nap, and randomly inflict harm upon him. Forget my healing ear - the water was ice cold. I could have jerked my head and slammed it down on the bench.

As I yelled at this boy, a 7th grader, he laughed at me. I questioned what values he had. I questioned if his parents taught him anything about respect. He kept laughing, I kept yelling. He walked away.

…

I approached the only credible witness, the substitute teacher who was with her young son. I apologized to her for anything inappropriate I said in front of her boy, and she told me I handled myself well. I asked her if she knew the boy. She did, and I took down his name and hers. Needless to say, the Middle School Principal will be paid a visit from one Mr. Richard Mondello tomorrow morning.

It’s not a vengeance thing - I don’t believe in revenge, either. This young man needs to understand that you don’t do something like that to anybody. It doesn’t matter that he could have ruined a very painful and expensive surgery and ruined my chances to hear ever again out of that ear. What if I had been laying on my side, with my healing ear facing up? It would have been toast.

The inside of my good ear was drenched. My hair was drenched. Luckily, the cotton ball I wore in my healing ear protected it.

This could have easily been the worst day of my life.

NonCon 2008 & Questionable Content

Published
by
Richard Mondello
on February 24, 2008
in Stories
. 0 Comments

I had the pleasure of attending No Such Convention (NonCon), hosted by Vassar College’s No Such Organization, today. It was a load of fun! They put together a really organized and enjoyable event. Serious props.

The main reason I made my way over to the lovely Vassar today was to see a panel by Jeph Jacques, writer and illustrator of my favorite webcomic, Questionable Content. His panel was a simple and hilarious question and answer session. Jeph and Cristi are just like I’d imagine them to be, funny and friendly. No, really, they were really nice.

I love them as much as you can love people you’re acquainted with via the Internet, and hope they keep doing what they do for a long time. If you don’t read Questionable Content, I recommend you clear out a few hours of your life and start from the beginning.

Facebook Phishing

Published
by
Richard Mondello
on January 2, 2008
in Social Media and Stories
. 3 Comments

This was posted on my Facebook wall, twice, tonight:

lol i cant believe these pics got posted….its going to be BADDDD when her boyfriend sees these- http://absenturlforyourprotection/

The person who allegedly wrote it was only an acquaintance. The real url went to something like “facebook.com.blah.blah.cn”. An obvious phishing attempt. The post I left on the person’s wall tells the story:

I barely know you, but there’s something you must know.

In the last 24 hours you posted this on my wall:
“lol i cant believe these pics got posted….its going to be BADDDD when her boyfriend sees these- http://absenturlforyourprotection/”

When I clicked the link (which I was suspicious of), I was asked for my name and password. “.cn” is China’s domain extension if you were unaware. I submitted the email address “bob@aol.com” and the password “asdf”. The login was successful and I was redirected to “facebook.com”.

This means that your facebook account has been compromised and you’re spamming ALL of your friends with this garbage. I don’t know whether a spammer has compromised your account, or it is one of the dozens of crappy third-party applications you’ve apparently randomly added. Either way, most people don’t take kindly to spammers, and it’s unfortunate your account was compromised. You should probably fix the problem and apologize to your friends.

I don’t take kindly to people who (seemingly) cannot take care of their web accounts. Unfriended. I’m don’t think I’m bitter or heartless - I believe I’m pragmatic. Although I understand that the person whose account was used to spam dozens of walls is also a victim of the spamming, I doubt facebook itself is to blame for the access. At this point, the person’s burden overtook their usefulness as an acquaintance.

A Note to Yourself

Published
by
Richard Mondello
on December 29, 2007
in Ricky and Stories
. 3 Comments

Write a note to yourself,
you’ll be glad that you did.
It’s a reminder of the past,
a piece of your thoughts frozen in time,
unaltered by fickle emotions.

It can be a diary, journal, or post-it.
Not a blog, never a blog,
for the public eye foils honesty.
Write one from yourself, to yourself, by yourself.
Stash it away, and be sure to read it later.

I wrote that poem, A Note to Yourself, for a school literary magazine earlier this year. I rarely write poetry, but I felt (and feel) passionate about this topic.

I usually post important details about my life here on Exposay. The crux of this post, however, happened before Exposay even existed. Last year, starting January 1, along with my new year’s resolutions, I instituted a secret policy. I started keeping something resembling a journal. Using the application MacJournal, I wrote myself a note every day for the last 365 days. In a journal, analogous to a file folder, I created twelve journals corresponding to the twelve months of the year. In each of those journals, I wrote between 28 to 31 entries, corresponding to the days of the month.

I use Christmas Break as a reflection period of the previous year. Keeping with that theme, and listening to the advice in my poem, I read my entries for the last year. My first entry was simple enough… Continue reading ‘A Note to Yourself’