Ishotthesheriff

Many people have a hard time believing it, but I am a very shy person. Though many people see me as gregarious, I was always very reserved. I was never very outgoing. But at the same time, I was sort of a clown. This became a problem when people were voting for senior favorites when I was a senior in high school. You see, I really wanted to be in our school yearbook as a senior favorite. I figured my best bet would be �shyest in the class.� I thought it was my best shot to be a senior favorite, since I wasn�t very likely to succeed, I wasn�t very ambitious, nor was a tall or short, which were the other categories people could vote on. So I lobbied my fellow students to vote for me as being the shyest. Not many people voted for me, however. Most people said that I was not shy at all.

People pointed out the time when I was in 10th grade, when I proclaimed my self the sheriff of the high school, as an example of me not being shy. You see, a friend of mine bought a package of Marlboros once. In the package, there was this pin that was in the shape of a star that sort of emulated a sheriffs badge. When I saw it, I said, �Who in their right mind would wear this as an accessory??? That would be a very weird fashion statement!!!� Being curios, I decided to put on the badge and see what kind of reaction I would get.

I clearly felt like a new man when I wore this badge. When I walked down the school hall, everyone gave me a double take. Even the upper classmen gave me a second look, which was helpful, because I had this big crush with this girl in the eleventh grade. You wouldn�t believe the kind of looks I got in the hallway. Many would think that they were looks of disrespect, but I liked to call it looks of respect. I clearly had to keep this new fashion accessory!!!

People started asking me, however, why I was wearing a sheriff�s badge. I gave a variety of reasons why I wore the badge, but only one really stuck with the school population. It was the reason I told this one hot girl. She asked me why I was wearing a sheriff�s badge and I didn�t want to look stupid and say that it was some sort of weird fashion statement. So to impress her with my humor, I told her that I was the new sheriff in the high school. I mean everyone loves law enforcement officers, right???? I was hoping that she would think I was cute after that, but I am not sure my plan worked. What ended up happening is that a bunch of people found out what I said really quickly. They started yelling down the hall �Hey Nick!!! Heard there�s a new sheriff in town!!!!!� Well, I decided to go along with the act. So I walked into my biology class, with a cowboy strut, and told my biology teacher, and the class, with my best country accent, that �I was the new sheriff in town, and yo�all are gonna abide by my laws!!!!!�

My biology teacher loved it. After that she often asked me to do my cowboy impersonation during the laboratory period. Additionally, whenever she had to leave class for a few minutes, she would leave me, the sheriff, in charge!!! Clearly my job as sheriff was going great. I also bought this memo pad, and wrote tickets to people who were walking in the hall too fast. This became a popular ritual in my school. Many, many girls asked me if I could write them a ticket. Sort of like an autograph thing. . I even over heard these two unbelievably hot girls talking about me. They were saying how unbelievably funny and cute I was. I was clearly flying high up to this point.

Things may started getting out of hand when my friend Jason and I decided to have scheduled gun slinging matches in the school hall way. Jason agreed to be my arch nemesis, and we would pretend to draw (we couldn�t use toy guns, so we used our hands) where I would get shot. The Sheriff thing got way to commercial for my taste and only lasted a few weeks.

So people mentioned examples like this when they refused to vote for me as �shiest in the class.� I do have a bunch of other examples the seniors of my class gave me of why they couldn�t vote for me as the class shiest, but I think I am going to save it for my autobiography. Make sure to ask for a copy when I finish it, hopefully by the end of Summer 2001.