aspiration

So here we are, in the mind of someone else:

WHAT I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP

by Billy K, age 10

What I want to be when I grow up is a powerful man who secretly runs the country like on that TV show I heard about.

My friend Alex wants to be president when he grows up. He is a fool. First, the president does not make that much money. Also, you have to shake a lot of hands and kiss a lot of babies to get to be president. I don’t like babies and I think that a lot of people get sick if you shake too many hands. Also, if you are the president and you do something wrong everyone gets mad at you. Really mad. And comedians make fun of you.

But if you are a powerful man who secretly runs the country, no one knows if you have done something wrong or makes fun of you, because nobody knows who you are or even that you are secretly running the country because it’s a secret. And you never have to kiss any babies, and you make way more money than the president does, I bet. 

Plus, you get to actually run the country, not just pretend like the president does, and I think that would be cool. People would have to do whatever you tell them to do and you get them to make whatever laws you want them to make. Like if you want a law that lets you have more candy than other people, then you can make that happen with maybe just a phone call or a secret meeting like you see in movies. You have to talk to a lot of senators, but that’s okay. I can handle that.

I think it would be great to be able to get whatever I want and also run the country without having to make speeches or anything like that. It’s even better than being a spy, even though spies are cool, because if no one knows that you secretly run the country, then no one will try to kill you like they try to kill spies.

I don’t know how you get the job of being a powerful man who secretly runs the country, but I hope that I can do it someday. Maybe I can write a letter to the president and ask him if he knows the guy who has the job now and if he can put me in touch with him, and then maybe I can get some advice on how to do that. Or maybe you just start telling people what to do and see what happens. Maybe if I start telling people what to do now, I can work my way up to telling more important people what to do until the person I am telling what to do is the president. That sounds like a pretty good plan.

That is what is good about America. Anyone can do anything if they just decide to do it, unless someone like me tells them they can’t.

Yes indeed. Welcome to me.