In his lovely piece of writing “Why Write?”, the writer Paul Auster shares a story about growing up as an eight-year-old in New York City. He was crazy about baseball, especially the New York Giants. The only thing he remembers about attending his first major league baseball game is that he saw his hero Willie Mays after the game. The young Auster gathered his courage and went close to his hero. “Mr. Mays,” he said, “could I please have your autograph (签名)?”
“Sure, kid, sure,” Mays replied kindly. “Have you got a pencil?”
Auster didn’t have a pencil on him, neither did his father or his mother or anyone else in his group.
Mays waited patiently, but when it became clear that no one present had anything to write with, he said, “Sorry, kid. We’ve got no pencil. I can’t give you my autograph.”
From that day on, Auster made it a habit to never leave the house without a pencil in his pocket. “It’s not that I had any special plans for that pencil,” Auster writes, “but I didn’t want to be unprepared. I had been caught empty-handed once, and I wasn’t about to let it happen again. The years have taught me this: If there’s a pencil in your pocket, there’s a good chance that one day you’ll feel like starting to use it. That’s how I became a writer.”
What is your pencil? What is so important that without it you feel unprepared? I know some cartoonists always carry pen and paper and some photographers always have a camera in their pockets. They are always prepared.
Pick your “pencil” and don’t leave home without it.
54. To get Willie Mays’ autograph, what did Auster need?
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55. What habit did Auster form after that day?
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56. What do you think of Auster’s habit? Why do you think so?
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“could I please have your autograph (签名)?”
“Sure, kid, sure,” Mays replied kindly. “Have you got a pencil?”
