Many people in this country succumb to the tempting nature of laziness. Basketball player Kobe Bryant has this to say about laziness, “I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you”.  Kobe has nothing in common with lazy people, and it is easy to see he does not care for them. If this is true, Kobe would not have liked me during my fifth grade summer. During my fifth summer, my dad scolded me for being lazy, and that has changed how I behave today.

Shouting and laughing is all that could be heard when the bell rang. It was the final bell of the school year for all the students at Northeast Elementary. The hallway was a zoo with all the kids running and yelling. Everyone wanted to wish their friends and teachers goodbye. I hustled down the hall to retrieve my book bag from my locker. I pushed up on the handle and pulled the door towards me. I piled my books and folders into my bag, and then dodged all the other students to get out the door and catch the bus.

“See you next year Kyle!” said a sixth grade teacher.

“Have a nice summer!” I responded as I climbed onto my bus.

I chose a seat in the back near my friends, and set my bag down. As the other kids filed onto the bus, I thought about the school year that had just finished. I had learned a lot and had a good time, but I was ready to relax at home for the summer. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the start of the bus, and just like that, summer had begun.

Just like the one-hundred seventy-nine days prior, my dad was there to pick my brother and me up from the bus stop when we arrived home.
“Are you boys ready for summer?” asked my dad who would also have all summer off because he was a teacher in neighboring Clinton.

“Yeah, I just want to go lay down for a couple of days” said my brother laughing. This was exactly how I was feeling as well. School had been especially taxing for me, so I was ready to be able to lie down and watch hour upon hour of TV.

The following night when my mom arrived home, the first thing that she saw was me on the couch, taking a nap.
“Has he been there all day?” she asked my dad.

“Yeah, he has not moved except to go to the bathroom or to eat” he responded.

It was only the first day of summer, so I thought I was entitled to at least one day of laziness. Besides, I had a lot of TV to catch up on that I had not been able to watch due to school. School takes up so much time and it is hard to find time to do anything else. But now that school was done, I had time to do whatever I wished. And right now, that included napping and watching TV.

My fourth grade summer was an eventful one for me, between baseball, and family vacation I was busier than a Village Inn during peak brunch hour, but this summer would be different. Baseball was only two days a week, so the other five days of the week I would have nothing on my schedule all day. Each day I planned to wake up to the sweet smell of pancakes and the sound of sizzling bacon that my dad had made that morning. Then I planned on making my way to the couch to watch the morning episode of SportsCenter. Then I would take a quick morning nap on the soft leather of the couch. Then it would be lunchtime, and time for another nap. If everything went according to plan, it would be a lazy summer for me.

Throughout the summer, I began forming the habit of barely going outside during the day. The only reason that I would go outside is to feed my dog or do a chore that my dad asked me to do, but never by my own choice. On the other hand, my brother was always outside. It seemed as if he never stopped moving once summer had begun. He was always outside doing something; basketball, baseball, playing with our dog, or going on a walk.

One day, as I was just getting into my mid-afternoon TV watching, I heard a door slam. The noise reverberated throughout the house, and I knew my dad was angry. I heard his steps come down the hall, and then take a turn to come up the steps. Normally my dad would go up the stairs at a nice brisk pace, but not this time. The sounds of his steps were hard and rapid, and I realized he was coming to yell at me. I wondered what for, had I left the refrigerator open? Or had I forgot to feed our dog that morning? Or was he angered by the twenty-minute shower I took that morning?

The sound of the doorknob turning was drowned out by my dad’s yelling voice, “I’ve let this slide long enough Kyle. All summer the only thing that you have done is sit on the couch! Meanwhile, your brother is outside playing all the time, waiting for somebody to play with him. If you don’t get off your lazy butt and go outside more, then we’re going to have a real problem. Understand?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” I said as I continued watching the TV.
“Well then what are you waiting for! Get out there!” he barked.
“Hold on, the show is almost done, Dad” I lied, as the show had just begun.
“No, right now. Go outside and you’re not allowed back inside until three. We have basketballs, baseballs, and other things to keep you occupied.”

I unwillingly removed myself from the comfort of my bed and put on some socks. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad for me to get some fresh air. I mean I enjoy recess at school, but it is so hot outside, and there isn’t any TV out there.
I got downstairs and laced up my shoes. I opened the door and stepped outside. The afternoon sun was beating down on my face. I felt hot and bored, and it hadn’t even been five minutes. I started walking down to my garage when I heard my brother, “Want to shoot some hoops, Kyle?”
“Sure, why not” I called back.

I retrieved the basketball from the garage and we started playing. Shot after shot of mine would miss its target, and it was as frustrating as pouring a new bowl of cereal and then realizing that there is no milk. Meanwhile, my brother was making shots with ease. I began to wonder if I could have done the same if I would have played more that summer.

Before I knew it, it had been an hour and a half of shooting baskets. The time flew by, and next, my brother wanted to play catch. We grabbed our gloves from the garage and got a ball. My glove felt oddly stiff, as if it had not been used in a long time. My brother’s glove looked loose, probably due to the fact he had been playing every day.

I had a great time playing outside with my brother, and just like that, my mom was coming down the lane and it was time for dinner. As I washed up for dinner, my thoughts were about one thing. Why hadn’t I been playing outside more this whole summer? That was much more fun than any TV watching that I could have done. I felt as if my whole summer had been wasted by being lazy and staying inside.

That summer, I learned that being lazy is not even close to as much fun as you can have while being active and playing outside. There was never another time when my dad had to tell me to get outside and do something. There was never a summer like that again. The following summer, I began a vigorous workout routine that would pave the way for the athlete that I would become later in life. As Anne Frank said, “Laziness may seem attractive, but work gives satisfaction” Throughout the course of one summer, I had personally learned this lesson, and it would go on to impact the person that I would become.