When I was in middle school I told my parents I had had enough of this weekend activity called “Little League Baseball.” Most children get enjoyment from friendly competition and being able to exercise that pent-up energy that kids naturally have, not the case in my experience. No, in my hometown of Newton Massachusetts, there cannot be competition because there cannot be losers. It’s a very liberal town, which has its perks (the town was rated the third safest city in the country at one point) but it also has its downsides.

One of those downsides is the inability to tell anyone that they’re bad at something or even scarier: that they will never get better. I made this realization while sitting in the outfield at age eight. After little Billy missed the ball for the third time, instead of being struck out and sent to the bench, the coaches decided to give him a few more chances. A few more turned into a lot more and eventually I decided to lie down in the outfield because even at age eight I was incredibly lazy. The point of this story is the world would’ve saved a lot of time if someone had taken Billy aside and suggested he play a sport that requires less skill, like Cross Country Running.

In many ways, my hometown’s inability to say what everyone is thinking inspired me to be the voice of reason. Add on the fact that most of my High School music tastes involved rebellious music such as Green Day and Rage Against the Machine and you can probably guess I developed into a very opinionated individual. I say what’s on my mind because typically no one else is saying what I’m thinking. It’s also important to note that in my experience most of what I say is on everyone else’s mind.

I’ve focused this skill on my personal interests, mainly movies and video games, but this column hopes to address everything and anything that’s on my mind that isn’t being said by someone else. I’m not doing this out of malice or hatred for the world. I think a little constructive criticism goes a long way. Maybe telling Billy he’s not very good at baseball led him to another sport he enjoyed or got him to give up on sports and become an incredible artist. Maybe my comments will fall in line with your own beliefs or maybe they’ll outrage you enough to write a letter of response and you’ll further discover what you truly believe in. Either way, the conversation is beneficial to all, it’s good for ya. This is my first swing at writing this column and I entrust all of you to let me know it’s time to pick up Cross Country Running (or given my physical fitness, Competitive Eating Competitions).