MARIO
"It's a-me! Mario!" Ah, that charming Italian plumber man. He touched many lives, and certainly did a number on me. I can't even remember when I first started playing video games, but what I do remember, usually involves Nintendo's loveable mascot, the one, the only, Mario Mario. He was an everyman, thrust into the chaotic high stakes world of Mushroom Kingdom. Anybody and everybody was in there with him, battling Bowser, and saving Princess Peach. He was charming, selfless, and most of all, knew the importance of mushrooms in a healthy diet.
Growing up in the early 90s meant exposure to some of the best technologies the world had to offer. CD Players! The Internet! And of course, Nintendo. Captivated by the wild 16 color display and the scintillating storyline, I was sucked in, and couldn't escape. It may seem trivial, but that plumber man had a big part in shaping the moral beliefs of a frightened young boy ready to make a go of it.
It was a dark and stormy Monday at Hewlett Elementary school, and tension filled the air. The Friday before the weekend, I had been tripped by the school bully, and laughed at by his oafish friends. A traumatizing and embarrassing experience for anybody, I did what anyone in my position would do. I ran crying to the principal telling her about this travesty of justice. After school that day, the bully had seen me, and swore revenge. I was frightened. Monday came, and there was no sign of the bully. That is, until recess, when he found me and dragged me off to what seemed like my oblivion.
Backed into a corner by the school bully, I could only think of my beloved video game hero... "What would Mario do?" It was then an idea struck my head, and I summoned from somewhere deep inside a superhuman strength to do as the Mushroom Kingdom guardian would do.... and jumped on the bully's head. My feet rained down like hellfire onto his unsuspecting body. He crumpled beneath me. Victory! Mario had saved me, this time.
I learned many things form that red and blue protector of the weak. The least of which being the proper disposal of turtles with spikes on their shells, and also, when evil is staring you in the face... wait for it to jump, then run really quickly underneath it to get the axe and chop away the bridge before it lands, sending it tumbling into the lava below. Thank you Mario, for now I can be all I can be.
Mario sez, go back!