Let Me Quit Essay, Research Paper

LET ME QUIT

Everything has a breaking point, if enough pressure is exerted it will break. Whether it s glass, wood, or even metal. Now lets take this theory and reapply it to a soldier in Vietnam. This soldier watches nearly his whole platoon get wiped out. He sees a lot, he sees Bobby Brown bleed to death, asking why can t he go home? He sees Johnny Blaze Williston coughing and searching for a breath but his throat isn t exactly in working order, he even sees his best friend engulfed in the flames of a misplaced napalm strike. Now this soldier, tells himself. This is war it s my job to see this stuff I m a U.S. Marine. Then one day he can t fight anymore, he just quits.

I don t know what to do, Judy said. John was really acting crazy, Should I give him an ultimatum? It was so bad that she might have to have john committed at the time.

Belushi met his breaking point, but he didn t quit, he turned to drugs. It kept him from falling apart, it helped the pressure and stress of it all.

There was a great deal of talent but the humanity had been dragged out. Drugs . . .cocaine was the reason.

John was only delaying the inevitable, he had chosen not to change his environment (just like the soldier depicted above).

If a person is in an environment which they can t control, (Belushi s life was out of control because the fame was to much to quick for him) then the environment is controlling them. This will happen whether they are aware of it or not. If the environment is doing harm to the person, the person will do one of the following three things.

A. Nothing

B. Alter the environment superficially

C. Leave the environment

The person (lets call him Peter) does nothing, he just goes with the flow. Under normal circumstances this would probably do no harm. However under normal circumstances the flow is just a happy go lucky stream. In this case the flow is either whitewater rapids or a happy go lucky stream on route for Niagara Falls. Peter assumes he can handle his current lifestyle, however Peter is failing to recognize that this is untrue. Peter continues to go with the flow (here s where we decide if he unravels or snaps ). If the stream is a rapid (in a rapid the person is aware they are being mentally battered) Peter will unravel . The other way to fall apart is to snap (if a snap takes place all anxieties/pressures are released in one moment), a snap represents a waterfall scenario. If a snap occurs the likelihood for violence is much higher. In the case that either of these scenarios takes place it s possible (worst case scenario) that Peter will spend the rest of his days in a bathtub full of Hi-C Ecto-cooler singing Elmo s Christmas Charols.

If someone alters his or her environment superficially ahem . . .John Belushi . . .cough, cough. Then he or she realizes that they are losing control and will,

a. Do drugs

b. Become stupid

c. Change their attitude/personality

I m out of control, he said. It was half question, half statement.

Yes , she said.

I m out of control he bellowed.

Just like Belushi, this person realizes on one level or another, life s controlling them and taking them somewhere they don t want to go. So they take drugs to make themselves feel better, they make their reality more comfortable. They also could, become stupid (my way of saying they are in denial or ignorant of the bad stuff in their life). They made the decision to do this subconsciously (most likely) or, forgot they made the decision in the first place. If a person changes their attitude/personality in reaction to their environment, they will then perceive the environment differently. This is very dangerous and could lead to a multiple personality disorder.

The best option for anybody in these circumstances is to leave, quit whatever, just get out! Remember we are under the pretext that the person can not change the environment that they are currently in.

Whatever, I must get out of L.A. soon. It s driving me to an early death, what with all my self abuse.

So in conclusion you have to know what you can and can t handle.

If the person can leave the environment that they are in, they can then, and only then, progress and move on in life.

Everybody needs to know their breaking point. Most importantly they need to know when to quit, before something makes them quit.

I believe that he wanted to quit . . .there was the pressure to do drugs . . .to be that for people . . .people would offer him drugs, he would refuse and they would say c mon.