I guess I don't have room in my backpack, because I am carrying the stack of books inside. An old man sees me in the lobby, lagging slightly behind my parents, and he scans my pile up and down.
"Are you planning to read all of those books?" he asks me.
One of the books is the 1994 Baseball Abstract, a massive encyclopedia of statistics and trivia. (Wikipedia is not yet a thing.) So honestly, I'm not sure if I'm going to read all of the books. At least not cover to cover. But it seems easier just to say yes.
"Yes."
He shakes his head in amazement. "That's wonderful," he says, "I'd bet on your future, my young friend."
I'm not really sure what to say. I'm in middle school, which means I never know what to say. So I just thank him and we go our separate ways.
What an epic pronouncement, though: "I'd bet on your future." I still think about that old guy, sometimes, wherever he is. Probably he's no longer with us. And I wonder if he would have made anything off that bet.
I have had similar experiences that have stuck with me, someone saying they'd bet on my future and that's something I often dream about. Sometimes it's a pressure fueled nightmare and sometimes its the soundtrack of an inspiring dreamscape. One day, I want all of those people to look up or down at me and smile knowing that I made it so I too can ponder how much money they've made. With this I would love to also look down on all of those who have discouraged me and show them where I've gotten.
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