A & P, By John Updike

Lewis Carroll once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” This quote describes what adventure means to me because if you do not have a plan, then you automatically have more freedom to do anything you would like to do than you would if you already have your life planned. If you are in college, you have less freedom to have adventures due to the time you need to complete school work. However, you could still have adventures on the weekends or breaks. If you do not have anything taking up your time, you can have even more adventures. Adventure is something unplanned, exciting, and a little bit scary. Adventure is seeing something new or trying something for the first time. Some people reject their call to adventure
because they are afraid of the unknown. In the poem “Sadie and Maud” by Gwendolyn Brooks and the short story “A & P” by John Updike both show people who want adventure.
Sadie from “Sadie and Maud,” has an adventure by having two kids when she is not married. While Maud from “Sadie and Maud,” does not have an adventure because she was afraid of the unknown. Sammy from “A & P,” works to help pay the bills and does the same boring thing every day. When he finally works up the courage to say yes to adventure, he quits his job. I relate to Sadie and Sammy because I also want adventure. I also relate to Maud because I am afraid of the unknown. I like to plan what is going to happen next. Despite being afraid of the unknown, I decided to apply to be a travel nanny in the summer for a family in Utah. I will get to travel to a lot of new places while watching little kids. The only problem is I am nervous to be away from home for the whole summer. But I think it will be a great adventure and I will knock a lot of places off of my bucket list. You will regret saying no to adventure more than you would if you said yes to adventure because if you say no you will miss out on great
experiences.
Even though Maud went to college, she did not have an adventure. Instead she lived an ordinary life. Because she was afraid of the unknown, Maud followed the rules of society and ended up “all alone” (Brooks 538). From Maud we learn that following the rules does not always mean you will be happy or have an adventure. On the other hand, Sadie wanted adventure. Sadie did not follow the rules. Even though Sadie was not married, she had “two babies” (Brooks 538). From Sadie we learn that sometimes you need to break the rules in order to have an adventure. Sadie shows us that we can still be happy, even if we have embarrassed our family with the decisions we have made.
Sammy did not like his job at The A & P. This is shown by the fact that he double rang one of those “cash-register-watchers” (Updike 142). If he liked his job, he would have been kinder to his customers. Sammy is also bored at the A & P. There is not much for him to do “except lean and the register and wait” (Updike 144). After Sammy finally works up the courage to quit, Lengel tries to convince Sammy to stay because his family is counting on him to make the money to pay the bills. But Sammy is ready for an adventure, even though his parents would not want him to quit. Sammy realized that it was not his responsibility to provide the money for his parents’ bills. He can have an adventure, he just has to be brave enough to go on one.
In December, my mom found a video of a couple in Utah looking for a nanny to travel with them and their three kids in the summer. My mom told me I should apply for it. I thought about it. I have always loved kids and wanted to travel so it should have been a no-brainer but I did not know these people. I rarely go anywhere by myself, so I was nervous about the thought of traveling the world with strangers. Who wouldn’t be? Eventually I worked up the courage and applied later that night. I was so excited for the possibility of traveling. Then a couple weeks went by and they posted another video. This one explains they are going to stop accepting applications sooner then they originally planned because they video went viral and they have so many applications to go through. I still have not heard anything from them but they have not decided on a nanny yet. So I’ll just keep my fingers crossed.
Adventure is taking a risk, doing something new and exciting, and also a little bit scary.
Since Maud from “Sadie and Maud” did not take any risks, consequently she did not have an adventurous life. Even though Maud followed the rules, she ended up alone and unhappy in the end. Meanwhile, Sadie from “Sadie and Maud” did take some risks and had an adventurous life. Although Sadie was not married, she had two kids. This embarrassed her parents as well as Maud. Sammy from “A & P” took a risk and quit his job. Now Sammy does not have a plan, so he is free to do whatever he chooses to do. I took a chance and applied for a job as a travel nanny. I learned that if I do not take a chance on adventure, I will not have adventure. You get to decide whether or not you want to have an adventure. If you are too scared you probably will not have an adventure. Are you too scared of the unknown? What will your adventure be? It is up to you, no one
else.