By Shira Anderson

Forgedaboutit

As an employee of Starbucks, I meet a wide variety of people on a regular basis. Our customers range from homeless men to a woman I swear is a porn star to busy mothers to business tycoons. Part of my job is ensuring that our customers have a good Starbucks experience, so I’m prompted to make eye contact and hold small conversations. Of course, sometimes this results in old men coming up from behind me, as one did last Sunday, whispering things like “You have a behind to die for,” but usually it’s a good way to meet and learn from people.
Last weekend, I was reminded of a very important lesson. No, I’m not talking about the perv (I’ve read “Lolita”, I know what you old guys are up to). I’m talking about a rather inspiring New Yorker that ordered a Café Misto. When I asked him how he liked the West Coast he responded that it was very laid-back. As a determined and hardworking senior, I laughed and told him that even if the streets were calmer, high school here was certainly more competitive and stressful than anywhere else on the planet (and trust me, I just did a semester abroad).
The man paid for his coffee and sat down, but called me over to him a few minutes later. “I was thinking about what you said,” he said, “and I have some advice for you. You know in New York, someone could yell at you in the street. You could miss a cab or the doorman could be really nasty. But we have this saying that really helps you deal with all the crap. When something bad happens, you can’t take it with you. You just have to forgedaboutit.”
I thought more about what that man had said, especially when doing my English homework later that night (Mr. Rosenberg I hope you enjoy this!). Charles Dickens knew just what this guy was talking about when he created the character Wemmick in his book Great Expectations. Wemmick’s job as a prestigious lawyer’s clerk is extremely stressful, but every day after work Wemmick goes home to a different life in his little castle with an endearingly deaf father and a sweet lady-friend. This alternate reality, so to speak, keeps Wemmick from turning into a bitter man.
Dickens’s Wemmick and my New Yorker promote the same message. You have to be able to compartmentalize or you’ll never make it through high school with your soul intact. Yes, your calculus test on Wednesday may strike fear into your heart, but once you’ve accomplished a healthy dose of studying it’s important to put your calculator away and focus all your energies into “One Tree Hill.” Yes, we are students, but we are also human, and we have to make sure our work doesn’t interfere with our fun. Sometimes, when you’ve had a bad day at school, when you get home you just have to let it go.