this i believe essay be cool to the pizza dude

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This I Believe

Be cool to the pizza dude.

Sarah Adams

Sarah Adams has held many jobs in her life, including telemarketer, factory worker, hotel clerk and flower shop cashier, but has never delivered pizzas. Raised in Wisconsin, Adams is now an English professor at Olympic Community College in Washington. Nubar Alexanian hide caption

Memorable Moments 2005

Revisit some of the year's most compelling stories and interviews. hide caption

If I have one operating philosophy about life it is this: "Be cool to the pizza delivery dude; it's good luck." Four principles guide the pizza dude philosophy.

Principle 1: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in humility and forgiveness. I let him cut me off in traffic, let him safely hit the exit ramp from the left lane, let him forget to use his blinker without extending any of my digits out the window or towards my horn because there should be one moment in my harried life when a car may encroach or cut off or pass and I let it go. Sometimes when I have become so certain of my ownership of my lane, daring anyone to challenge me, the pizza dude speeds by me in his rusted Chevette. His pizza light atop his car glowing like a beacon reminds me to check myself as I flow through the world. After all, the dude is delivering pizza to young and old, families and singletons, gays and straights, blacks, whites and browns, rich and poor, vegetarians and meat lovers alike. As he journeys, I give safe passage, practice restraint, show courtesy, and contain my anger.

Principle 2: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in empathy. Let's face it: We've all taken jobs just to have a job because some money is better than none. I've held an assortment of these jobs and was grateful for the paycheck that meant I didn't have to share my Cheerios with my cats. In the big pizza wheel of life, sometimes you're the hot bubbly cheese and sometimes you're the burnt crust. It's good to remember the fickle spinning of that wheel.

Principle 3: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in honor and it reminds me to honor honest work. Let me tell you something about these dudes: They never took over a company and, as CEO, artificially inflated the value of the stock and cashed out their own shares, bringing the company to the brink of bankruptcy, resulting in 20,000 people losing their jobs while the CEO builds a home the size of a luxury hotel. Rather, the dudes sleep the sleep of the just.

Principle 4: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in equality. My measurement as a human being, my worth, is the pride I take in performing my job — any job — and the respect with which I treat others. I am the equal of the world not because of the car I drive, the size of the TV I own, the weight I can bench press, or the calculus equations I can solve. I am the equal to all I meet because of the kindness in my heart. And it all starts here — with the pizza delivery dude.

Tip him well, friends and brethren, for that which you bestow freely and willingly will bring you all the happy luck that a grateful universe knows how to return.

Biographies & Memoirs

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude: A 'This I Believe' Essay

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Be cool to the pizza dude: a 'this i believe' essay audible audiobook – unabridged.

Listening Length 3 minutes
Author Sarah Adams
Narrator Sarah Adams
Audible release date September 28, 2007
Language English
Publisher Macmillan Audio
ASIN B000WOYD4I
Version Unabridged
Program Type Audiobook
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Arts & Humanities

Be cool to the pizza dude : A This I Believe Essay By Sarah Adams

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Be Cool to the Pizza Dude

Each person I see is a brother or sister whom God loves, for whom Jesus died. Seeing, may I be lifted up into all that is true, good, beautiful.

Upon waking : “Thank you for bringing me to this day, thank you for all the possibilities in it, thank you for . . . (at least three things) . . . Let me see all that is before me today.” This is being awake.

Gratitude : I notice what is around me and am grateful for those many gifts, even the most simple or mundane. It is all there for me to notice, enjoy, and appreciate. This is being awake.

Be there: When I’m with someone, to not be sucked into my own preoccupations and dramas, but to be present to them, as fully as possible. Look and see, listen and hear, empty and understand. This is being awake.

He’s just the guy from down the street. Today, I will consciously look for the extraordinary amidst the ordinary . This is being awake.

Peace and Possibilities

I have a personal mission statement: To be an instrument of peace, through the tenets of courtesy, integrity, self-control, perseverance and indomitable spirit. It’s what I tell people if they ask. It’s in my bio on our business web site . It’s what I think about every day.

God is with me, but more, God is within me, giving me existence. Let me dwell for a moment on God’s Life-Giving Presence in my body, my mind, my heart, and in the whole of my life.

It took a few years of piddling around with a personal mission statement before I hit upon that one a couple of years ago. The first versions sounded all human-development-y and socially-conscious-y and personal achievement-y. They had good sentiments but they weren’t as authentically from my heart as they needed to be. They weren’t what drove me.

I was reading the Prayer of St. Francis, with which I was well familiar, and it hit me: “Yes, that’s what I’m about! Fostering peace in the world! How simple!” It’s been the yearning in my heart since I was a kid in the midst of volatile circumstances. It’s what has pained me when I’ve been in the midst of actions of fear and hurt happening. It’s what I want in my own life, and I want to be able help bring that to others and to the world.

So, OK, peace. What about the rest of that stuff in there? Well, I’ve spent the past 25 years practicing and teaching Taekwondo, and those are it’s five tenets, what our practice is ultimately all about, what we seek to develop through our practice and bring to our lives. It seems appropriate to be cognizant of living these out each day and in that, still, to help bring peace, versus, say, simply make a million bucks (not that it wouldn’t be cool to make a million bucks; maybe that needs to be in my mission, too).

By God’s grace I was born to live in freedom, Free to enjoy the pleasures created for me. Dear One, grant that I may live as You intended, with complete confidence in Your Loving Care.

Shortly upon waking this morning, thinking of what I am grateful for and of living a day in accord with my mission, I had the flash-thought of “possibility.” I am to live in a way that is open to and steps toward my possibilities, of what I might become and of what I might do in the world — of what God might have me become and have me do in the world. And what do you know? I load the Ignatian Examen app on my phone and read today’s Presence element (the first italicized prayer inserted earlier in this post). Life-Giving-Presence is all about ongoing creation, newness, growth, bringing about the possibilities.

My mission: To be an instrument of peace and to live my possibilities. Hmmm. That might work, yes?

We all need to take time out from our daily chores; We know that our bodies need a rest. When we come into Your Presence our hearts and minds are refreshed, our spirits lifted.

I thank God for these moments we have spent together and for any insights I may have been given.

First Delivery

As I begin this prayer, God is here. Around me, in my sensations, in my thoughts and deep within me. I pause for a moment, and become aware of God’s life-giving presence.

OK, we’re rolling! This is the official first post. (See the About page for a bit of background, if you’d care to.)

So, let’s start with the name of this blog. It means something. As I contemplated beginning the blog and exactly how to conceptualize it through the naming, which was important to me, I read an essay in the book, This I Believe. The very first essay, by Sarah Adams, is titled Be Cool to the Pizza Dude . A lot of spirituality can be understood in that sentiment. It stuck. I think I’ll read it again right now . . .

I’m back; here’s the short list:

Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in humility and forgiveness.
Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in empathy.
Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in honor . . .
Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in equality.

I ask for the grace to believe in what I could be and do if I only allowed God, my loving Creator, to continue to create me, guide me and shape me.

Over the past couple of days I listened to an episode of the (HIGHLY recommended) On Being podcast, titled Running as Spiritual Practice . It’s about running and it’s not about running; a small diversity of people share about their running practice and it’s place in their human-spiritual journey. I’m not a runner (I did listen to it while walking the dog!) but I’m someone whose physical practices are an important part of my own human-spiritual journey, Three “captures” that made it into my Apple notes:

“Yeah, the best thing for you to remember is that the blessing is outside of your comfort zone.”

“The number one objective of my Olympic pursuit was to heal a broken soul.”

“. . . I’d been meditating for a number of years, not terribly successfully, and I began to notice that my running life and my meditating life were beginning to merge. One day, I came across an article about Thomas Merton in which Thomas Merton was quoted as saying that “prayer is the desire to pray.” And I didn’t really know about prayer as equating it with meditation. And so my notion of what prayer is about began to expand, because I imagine that God is most fully present with us at this moment, and to the extent to which you can find yourself in the present moment, then you’re finding yourself in prayer.”

Grant, O Lord, that I may be conscious and grateful for all the good things you have given me. May I share my blessings with others always.

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Be Cool to the Pizza Dude

A 'This I Believe' Essay
By: Sarah Adams
Narrated by: Sarah Adams
Length: 3 mins
3.5 out of 5 stars 3.5 (2 ratings)

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Narrated by: Mansoor Adayfi, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Elias Khalil, and others
Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
Overall 5 out of 5 stars 9
Performance 5 out of 5 stars 9
Story 5 out of 5 stars 9

In weeks after the September 11 attacks, 18-year-old Mansoor Adayfi was kidnapped by Afghan militia and sold to US forces for bounty money. After months of interrogations, he was sent to the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as one of its first prisoners. Like the nearly 800 other men imprisoned at Guantanamo, Adayfi didn’t know why he was imprisoned or for how long. He had never seen a skyscraper and couldn’t imagine what the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center looked like, much less how they were destroyed.

Great method of storytelling

By Stacy Dube on 05-13-24

By: Mansoor Adayfi , and others

The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean

By: M. Doreal

Narrated by: John Marino
Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,327
Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,122
Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,115

The history of the tablets translated in the following book is strange and beyond the belief of modern scientists. Their antiquity is stupendous, dating back some 36,000 years. The writer is Thoth, an Atlantean Priest-King, who founded a colony in ancient Egypt after the sinking of the mother country. He was the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, erroneously attributed to Cheops. In it he incorporated his knowledge of the ancient wisdom and also securely secreted records and instruments of ancient Atlantis.

Excellence...

By Light Worker on 04-21-18

The Prophet

By: Kahlil Gibran

Narrated by: Riz Ahmed
Length: 1 hr and 25 mins
Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 995
Performance 5 out of 5 stars 846
Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 844

On the face of it, a simple book of 26 poem fables sharing one man’s wisdom. But The Prophet is so much more than that. It has inspired people from John F Kennedy to The Beatles and became the '60s Bible of counterculture – all because of the timeless truths it shared. Each poem takes a different theme – pleasure, beauty, freedom, joy and sorrow – as the fictional Al Mustapha shares his thoughts and experiences as he prepares to travel back to his island home.

Riz Ahmed's Narraration Is So Moving!

By Dee Tree on 09-12-21

Buddhism for Beginners

By: Thubten Chodron, His Holiness the Dalai Lama - foreword
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,157
Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,836
Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,816

This user’s guide to Buddhist basics takes the most commonly asked questions - beginning with “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?” - and provides simple answers in plain English. Thubten Chodron’s responses to the questions that always seem to arise among people approaching Buddhism make this an exceptionally complete and accessible introduction - as well as a manual for living a more peaceful, mindful, and satisfying Life.

Amazing introduction to Buddhism

By chad d on 07-02-15

By: Thubten Chodron , and others

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32 “This I Believe” Essay

The history of ‘this i believe’.

by Tanya Matthews

This I Believe is an exciting media project that invites individuals from all walks of life to write about and discuss the core beliefs that guide their daily lives. They share these statements in weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered .

The series is based on the 1950’s radio program This I Believe , hosted by acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow. Each day, some 39-million Americans gathered by their radios to hear compelling essays from the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller and Harry Truman as well as corporate leaders, cab drivers, scientists and secretaries — anyone able to distill into a few minutes the guiding principles by which they lived. Their words brought comfort and inspiration to a country worried about the Cold War, McCarthyism and racial division.

Eventually, the radio series became a cultural phenomenon. Eighty-five leading newspapers printed a weekly column based on This I Believe . A collection of essays published in 1952 sold 300,000 copies — second only to the Bible that year. The series was translated and broadcast around the globe on the Voice of America. A book of essays translated into Arabic sold 30,000 copies in just three days.

[The NPR series This I Believe can be read and heard here . In addition, the website and organization This I Believe houses thousands of essays written by famous people, such as the ones mentioned above, and everyday people like you and me.]

As a college student in 2020, you are faced with turbulent politics, socioeconomic issues, and ethical dilemmas that will challenge you to take a stand and contribute to the local, national, and global conversation around you. The purpose of this writing task is not to persuade you to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, it is to encourage you to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from your own. Fifty years ago, Edward R. Murrow’s project struck such a chord with millions of Americans. It can do so again today…with you.

Video Resources for Generating Ideas

Dan gediman on writing a “this i believe essay”.

Read Cecelia Munoz’s essay “Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing” referred to in the previous video here .

“This I Believe” Essay with Animation

“This I Believe” Essay Ideas

Prewriting Activity

1) analyze others’ statements.

Consider the following statements, written in response to the question What Have You Learned About Life? Highlight any sentences that resonate with you. Talk about them with a partner or group, explaining why. 1. I’ve learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back. – Age 9 2. I’ve learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up. – Age 14 3. I’ve learned that although it’s hard to admit it, I’m secretly glad my parents are strict with me. – Age 15 4. I’ve learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it. – Age 39 5. I’ve learned that there are people who love you dearly but just don’t know how to show it. – Age 42 6. I’ve learned that you can make someone’s day by simply sending them a little note. – Age 44 7. I’ve learned that the greater a person’s sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others. – Age 46 8. I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. – Age 48 9. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die. – Age 53 10. I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. – Age 58 11. I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. – Age 62 12. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision. – Age 66 13. I’ve learned that it pays to believe in miracles. And to tell the truth, I’ve seen several. – Age 75 14. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. – Age 82 15. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch—holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. – Age 85 16. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. – Age 92

2) Compose Your Own Statement

Write down a sentence that expresses what YOU have learned about life. Maybe it is similar to one of the statements above; maybe it’s completely different. Whatever it is, write it down.

3) Freewrit e

Now free-write about your sentence. Include at least two examples / experiences that you have had that support why you think this way.

Personal Statement/Philosophy: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why do you believe in this statement? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Name two experiences that you had that would support the statement: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What does this say about yourself or your personality? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ After your life experience, how have you come to the conclusion that this should be your statement? How have your beliefs changed, if at all? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How has the event effected your relationship with a person, place, or object? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How does your statement apply to you today? (How you view yourself & society) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SAMPLE STUDENT ESSAYS

Sample #1: america’s beauty is in its diversity.

written by Alaa El-Saad, high school student, as heard on NPR’s Tell Me More (2009)

America is built on the idea of freedom, and there is no exception for Muslim women. I believe in the freedom of religion and speech. But mostly, I believe it’s OK to be different, and to stand up for who and what you are. So I believe in wearing the hijab.

The hijab is a religious head covering, like a scarf. I am Muslim and keeping my head covered is a sign of maturity and respect toward my religion and to Allah’s will. To be honest, I also like to wear it to be different. I don’t usually like to do what everyone else is doing. I want to be an individual, not just part of the crowd. But when I first wore it, I was also afraid of the reaction that I’d get at school.

I decided on my own that sixth grade was the time I should start wearing the hijab. I was scared about what the kids would say or even do to me. I thought they might make fun of me, or even be scared of me and pull off my headscarf. Kids at that age usually like to be all the same, and there’s little or no acceptance for being different.

On the first day of school, I put all those negative thoughts behind my back and walked in with my head held high. I was holding my breath a little, but inside I was also proud to be a Muslim, proud to be wearing the hijab, proud to be different.

I was wrong about everything I thought the kids would say or even do to me. I actually met a lot of people because of wearing my head covering. Most of the kids would come and ask me questions—respectfully—about the hijab, and why I wore it.

I did hear some kid was making fun of me, but there was one girl—she wasn’t even in my class, we never really talked much—and she stood up for me, and I wasn’t even there! I made a lot of new friends that year, friends that I still have until this very day, five years later.

Yes, I’m different, but everyone is different here, in one way or another. This is the beauty of America. I believe in what America is built on: all different religions, races and beliefs. Different everything.

Sample #2: The Essentials to Happiness

written by Alexxandra Schuman, high school student, as heard on The Bob Edwards Show (2013)

As a child, I was generally happy; singing and dancing to my favorite songs; smiling and laughing with my friends and family. But as far back as second grade, I noticed a “darkness,” about me. I didn’t enjoy engaging in many things. I didn’t relate to my peers in elementary school because they appeared so happy, and I didn’t have that ability to achieve happiness so easily.

In middle school things in my life began to get even worse. I began withdrawing from everything I once enjoyed; swimming, tennis, family. I hated going to sleep knowing I had to wake up to another day. I was always tired. Everything was horrible. Finally, midway through eighth grade, I was told I had a chemical imbalance; diagnosed with clinical depression and put on medication. It took months for me to feel the effects of the medication.

When I began to feel happy again, is when I realized that I had to take the responsibility for getting better myself, rather than relying on medication and therapy alone. Aristotle said, “To live happily is an inward power of the soul,” and I believe that this quote describes what I had to do to achieve happiness. Happiness is a journey. Everyone seems to need different things to be happy. But I believe people are blinded from what truly makes one happy.

Growing up, we’re encouraged to be successful in life; but how is success defined? Success and happiness are imagined now as having a lot of money. It is so untrue. Recently I went to Costa Rica and visited the small town of El Roble. I spent the day with a nine-year old girl named Marilyn. She took me to her house to meet her parents. It was obvious that they were not rich; living in a small house with seven children. The house was cluttered but full of life. Those who have decided that success and happiness comes from having money and a big house would be appalled at how utterly happy this family from El Roble is. People say that seeing things like that make you appreciate what you have, but for me, it made me envy them for being so happy without all the things I have.

“The essentials to happiness are something to love, something to do, and something to hope for,” a quote from William Blake sums up what I believe people need to realize to be truly happy in life. People need love; I feel they need their family and their friends more than anything in the world. People need work to do, something to make them feel they are making a difference in the world. People need to know that more good is to come in the future, so they continue to live for “now” instead of constantly worrying about the bad that could come. And most importantly people need to know that happiness is not something that happens overnight. Love and hope is happiness.

Sample #3: Find a Good Frog

written by Delia Motavalli, high school student, as heard on The Bob Edwards Show (2013)

I believe in finding a good frog. It seems that all throughout childhood, we are taught to look for a happily ever after. “And they all lived happily ever after”; isn’t that the conclusion to many children’s films? When I was a kid I always thought of that as magical; but now really it just seems unrealistic. And it teaches us that what we want is a fairytale like they have in the storybooks. We all want to be Cinderella who gets swept off her feet by the hot prince; we want to live in the royal castle, right? But I don’t think that’s necessarily a good thing for us to seek. Now I’m not saying I believe in being pessimistic, but I do believe in being realistic; it’s something I got from my mom.

My mother and I always have our best conversations in the rain. We sit in the car, neither of us wanting to brave the rain to get to the house. So we sit. We watch droplets race down the windshield, listen to the rain strike the roof of her little blue Honda, and feel the heater on full-blast rushing at our feet (just the way we like it). I don’t know why, but sitting in the car, we always talk more than normal. There was one rainy day when my mom told me something that is going to stick with me forever. Earlier that day she and my dad had been arguing about something; I can’t remember what. So she said, “Don’t spend your life looking for Prince Charming. Instead, find yourself a really good frog.”

At the time, I found this thought really disheartening. Who wants to think that you’ll never find Prince Charming? You’ll never get to be Cinderella? Another thought that struck my mind: if my mom says there’s no Prince Charming, then what’s my dad? A frog? I asked her, and she replied with, “Of course! If he were Prince Charming, he wouldn’t snore, would be able to cook, and we would never argue. But you know what? He’s a damn good frog.” Of course, being young, I didn’t think of the meaning behind what she was saying. I was too busy thinking of it literally, visualizing my mom as a princess and my dad in frog form.

But a few years later, I understand the value of my mom’s words. You can’t expect everything to be perfect. Let’s be completely honest; if you wait your whole life for your prince with flowing hair, statuesque features, and a white horse, you’re going to be lonely. I think that the point of finding a good frog is you accept something that’s great, flaws and all. It’s so easy to be picky. You can find the one tiny thing that’s wrong, and that one tiny thing is what you can’t get your mind off of. But in life, we can’t afford to wait years in vain for perfection. So I think that a good frog, an amazing frog, the best frog you can find is what we’re really looking for in this world. Don’t laze through life waiting for a happily ever after, because I don’t think you’ll be very happy with the outcome.

Examples from the ‘This I Believe’ Website

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude by Sarah Adams

They Lived Their Faith by Charles Henry Parrish

Returning to What’s Natural by Amelia Baxter-Stoltzfus

The Birthright of Human Dignity by Will Thomas

Remembering All The Boys by Elvia Bautista

I Am Still The Greatest by Muhammad Ali

A Goal Of Service To Humankind by Anthony Fauci

My Life Is Better by Abraham

Give Me a Waffle by Brenda

The Little Things by Sophie Crossley

You can also browse thousands more This I Believe essays by theme .

Prefer to Listen to Get Inspiration?

Check out This I Believe’s Podcast Series

4) Drafting

Assignment guidelines + suggestions and tips for drafting.

1. While the examples you’ve been given can serve as a model, it is essential that each of you write about a personal belief or philosophy that you feel strongly about. 2. Tell a story. Personal experiences are the corner stone of a good essay. Your story doesn’t have to be a heart breaker or even a major event, but it must be something that has affected how you think, feel, and act. List your personal experiences that you intend to use as evidence below: 3. Be concise. Avoid repetition. This essay should be between 500 – 650 words. When read aloud, it should take roughly four minutes. 4. Name your belief. It is essential that you can name your belief in a sentence or two. Focus on one belief only. This is your thesis. Write it here: 5. Be positive. Avoid preaching or persuading. You aren’t trying to change the way others think or act. Write about what you believe, not what you don’t believe. 6. Use the first person. Speak for yourself. Avoid using we or you. 7. Let your voice shine. Use language that sounds like you. Read it aloud as your revise. Keep making changes until your essay sounds like you and captures the essence of your belief.

5) Peer Review

Once you have written your first draft, arrange for your essay to be edited by a peer, using the following Peer-Editing Checklist: Writer’s Name: ________________________________________________ Peer Editor’s Name: ________________________________________________ Use your PENCIL or PEN (NOT red or green) to make corrections. Remember, this essay is a work in progress. You are not done writing! Look for ways to improve what you’ve already written. Tick each step if it has been completed. _____ 1. Read the paper backwards, one sentence at a time. Check for spelling errors. Use a dictionary, a friend, or a spell checker to find the correct spelling. _____ 2. Check for capitalized proper nouns and the first word of each sentence. _____ 3. Skip a line between each paragraph. _____ 4. Every sentence should have end punctuation. _____ 5. Check commas. Are they only used for compound sentences, a list of items, an introductory word or phrase, direct address, setting off interruptions, separating adjectives, or in dates? Do you need to add commas? Make sure you do not have commas separating complete sentences (i.e. comma splice errors that create run-on sentences). _____ 6. Apostrophes are used only for contractions and to show ownership. _____ 7. The use of more complex punctuation (dashes, hyphens, semi-colons, parentheses, etc.) is done correctly. _____ 8. Have you used commonly mixed pairs of words correctly? Check these: they’re/their/there, your/you’re, it’s/its, a/an, to/too/two, are/our/hour, and others. _____ 9. Read the paper backwards one sentence at a time. Check for sentence fragments and run-ons and correct them. _____ 10. Did you stay in present tense (such as is, am, do, take, know, etc.) or past tense (such as was, were, did, took, knew, etc.) throughout the entire essay? _____ 11. Did you stay in first person (I, me, my, we, us, our) or third person (he, him, she, her, they, them, their) throughout the entire essay? _____ 12. Was there adequate use of specific details and sensory details? Were the details clear and relevant to the statement? _____ 13. Is the overall purpose/philosophy clear? _____ 14. Does the conclusion make you go, “Wow!” “Cool!” “I never thought about it that way,” or any other similar reaction? Other suggestions for the overall content of the piece: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

possible grading rubric for This I Believe essay

This I Believe by Tanya Matthews is licensed by CC-BY-SA

“This I Believe” Essay Copyright © 2020 by Liza Long; Amy Minervini; and Joel Gladd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The Weather Vane

Eastern Mennonite University’s Student Newspaper Since 1939

Editorial: “Be cool to the pizza dude” doesn’t cut it anymore

I stumbled onto the bus last weekend for a cross country team day trip up to Highland Retreat, late, as usual a perpetual and not-so-fashionable characteristic of mine. With physical distancing guidelines in place, even the large charter buses used for athletic teams seemed smaller, and the only seat left was in the front row.

As we turned onto Mount Clinton Pike, I heard a deep sigh coming from the driver’s seat. I recognized that sigh it was one of those exasperated, I-won’t-take-your-crap-today sighs, the ones reserved for days that take sheer willpower to get through.

And then I heard it a couple more times, still within the first few minutes of the trip.

I was starting to get annoyed. I’m trying to focus, here, I thought. I was preparing to race a 5k with my teammates, and my general race routine is to use the bus rides to breathe easy and focus before the nervous rush. The driver was interrupting my good vibes with her frustrated energy.

When we got close to camp, another teammate came up to the front to help her with directions, and she mentioned to my teammate how she was just about to start a new job with a branch of Little Debbie because this one wasn’t cutting it anymore.

“Why’s that?” my teammate asked.

“People just aren’t going anywhere,” the driver said. “When they don’t travel, we don’t move.” Her company anticipated that business would start to pick up again by March. “But I can’t wait that long,” she said.

“Oh, wow, I hadn’t thought of that,” my teammate replied. My thoughts exactly.

But our driver had, of course, because it was her livelihood at stake, her bills that couldn’t be paid. And though I’m a college student who also struggles to pay monthly rent, a big hunk of privilege separates me from the gravest of realities. While my worst-case scenario might end me back up in my parents’ house, hers might be an inability to feed her children or no roof at all over her head. The systemic issues, like those affecting the working class, that are brought to blinding light by COVID-19 go even deeper and wider than I ever tried to wrap my head around.

Yikes. And I’m pretty late to the game in trying.

After that brief conversation, I had a little more grace toward those exasperated sighs. The whole encounter reminded me of that This I Believe essay, “Be cool to the pizza dude,” that many professors rave about in their introductory college writing classes as they try to teach students how to pour out their hearts on paper.

Basically, author Sarah Adams’ life philosophy is that “being cool to the pizza dude” is a practice in humility, empathy, honor, and equality, which she explains eloquently throughout the essay.

But whether it be the pizza dude or the charter bus driver who took our team to the camp, simply “being cool” to them isn’t enough anymore. And it wasn’t enough before, either.

Sure, treating people with kindness and respect might be a virtue. But so is voting for representatives who will work to offset systemic hierarchies and economic inequalities through fair wages and access to healthcare. So is acknowledging that even though this particular bus driver was white, COVID-19 still disproportionately affects BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. So is supporting local creators and business owners of color with your dollars, if you can spare a few.

So is recognizing that those deep sighs exude humanity and that there’s likely a whole chain of events, maybe even a lifetime of injustice, smouldering behind that one sigh.

Editor in Chief

More From Opinion

Editorial: visit the smithland dog park, the holidays aren’t joyful for everyone, do’s and don’ts of dining out during a pandemic.

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This I Believe

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2006

Plot Summary

“Be cool to the pizza dude,” by Sarah Adams
“Leaving identity issues to other folks,” by Phyllis Allen
“In giving I connect with others,” by Isabel Allende
“Remembering all the boys,” by Elvia Bautista
“The mountain disappears,” by Leonard Bernstein
“How is it possible to believe in God?” by William F. Buckley Jr.
“The fellowship of the world,” by Niven Busch
“There is no job more important than parenting,” by Benjamin Carson
“A journey toward acceptance and love,” by Greg Chapman
“A shared moment of trust,” by Warren Christopher
“The hardest work you will ever do,” by Mary Cook
“Good can be as communicable as evil,” by Norman Corwin
“A daily walk just to listen,” by Susan Cosio
“The elusive yet holy core,” by Kathy Dahlen
“My father’s evening star,” by William O. Douglas
“An honest doubter: Have I learned anything important since I was sixteen?” by Elizabeth Deutsch Earle
“An ideal of service to our fellow man,” by Albert Einstein
“The power and mystery of naming things,” by Eve Ensler
“A goal of service to humankind,” by Anthony Fauci
“The God who embraced me,” by John W. Fountain
“Unleashing the power of creativity,” by Bill Gates
“The people who love you when no one else will,” by Cecile Gilmer
“The willingness to work for solutions,” by Newt Gingrich
“The connection between strangers,” by Miles Goodwin
“An athlete of God,” by Martha Graham
“Seeing in beautiful, precise pictures,” by Temple Grandin
“Disrupting my comfort zone,” by Brian Grazer
“Science nourishes the mind and the soul,” by Brian Greene
“In praise of the ‘Wobblies’,” by Ted Gup
“The power of presence,” by Debbie Hall
“A grown-up Barbie,” by Jane Hamill
“Happy talk,” by Oscar Hammerstein II
“Natural links in a long chain of being,” by Victor Hanson
“Talking with the sun,” by Joy Harjo
“A morning prayer in a little church,” by Helen Hayes
“Our noble, essential decency,” by Robert A. Heinlein
“A new birth of freedom,” by Maximillan Hodder
“The benefits of restlessness and jagged edges,” by Kay Redfield Jamison
“There is no God,” by Penn Jillette
“A duty to heal,” by Pius Kamau
“Living life with ‘Grace and elegant treeness’,” by Ruth Kamps
“The light of a brighter day,” by Helen Keller
“The bright lights of freedom,” by Harold Hongju Koh
“The power of love to transform and heal,” by Jackie Lantry
“The power of mysteries,” by Alan Lightman
“Life grows in the soil of time,” by Thomas Mann
“Why I close my restaurant,” by George Mardikian
“The virtues of the quiet hero,” by John McCain
“The joy and enthusiasm of reading,” by Rick Moody
“There is such a thing as truth,” by Errol Morris
“The rule of law,” by Michael Mullane
“Getting angry can be a good thing,” by Cecilia Muñoz
“Mysterious connections that link us together,” by Azar Nafisi
“The making of poems,” by Gregory Orr
“We are each other’s business,” by Eboo Patel
“The 50-percent theory of life,” by Steve Porter
“The America I believe in,” by Colin Powell
“The real consequences of justice,” by Frederic Reamer
“There is more to life than my life,” by Jamaica Ritcher
“Tomorrow will be a better day,” by Josh Rittenberg
“Free minds and hearts at work,” by Jackie Robinson
“Growth that starts from thinking,” by Eleanor Roosevelt
“The artistry in hidden talents,” by Mel Rusnov
“My fellow worms,” by Carl Sandburg
“When children are wanted,” by Margaret Sanger
“Jazz is the sound of God laughing,” by Colleen Shaddox
“There is no such thing as too much barbecue,” by Jason Sheehan
“The people have spoken,” by Mark shields
“Everything potent is dangerous,” by Wallace Stegner
“A balance between nature and nurture,” by Gloria Steinem
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” by Andrew Sullivan
“Always go to the funeral,” by Deirdre Sullivan
“Finding prosperity by feeding monkeys,” by Harold Taw
“I agree with a pagan,” by Arnold Toynbee
“Testing the limits of what I know and feel,” by John Updike
“How do you believe in a mystery?” by Loudon Wainwright III
“Creative solutions to life’s challenges,” by Frank X. Walker
“Goodness doesn’t just happen,” by Rebecca West
“When ordinary people achieve extraordinary things,” by Jody Williams

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“Be Cool to the Pizza Dude” Analysis Essay Example

Pages: 3 (613 words)
Published: August 3, 2016
Type: Analysis

In the essay “Be Cool to the Pizza Dude,” Sarah Adams writes about the valid reasons for being cool to the pizza dude, and explains the blessings and good karma that can come from it. Adams fills her essay with four principles exampled that further explain her philosophy of being cool to the pizza dude, and how she applies it. The first principle is to practice humility and forgiveness for the pizza dude, to which Adams provides an example of a pizza dude cutting her off in traffic, and her collective tolerance for such actions.

Adams explains the importance of allowing the pizza dude a safe passage, and not letting anger her cloud judgment. The second principle is to practice empathy for the pizza dude. The author reminisces with her memory of such ‘bottom of the

barrel’ jobs, and explains the importance of empathizing with the pizza dude, because he is only trying to earn a paycheck. The author includes the metaphor “In the big pizza wheel of life, sometimes you’re the hot bubbly cheese and sometimes you’re the burnt crust,” to remind the reader of when they were the burnt crust (Adams 1).

The third principle is to honor hard work in the pizza dude, and practice honor in general. Adams offers the idea that the pizza dude is simply a civilian, unlike a CEO of a huge corporation, who is trying to earn an honest living, and does not live a corrupt, rich life. The last principle, Adams explains, is to practice equality with the pizza dude, because no person is worth more than another. Adams says “I am the equal to all I mee

because of the kindness in my heart,” to tie in her definition of equality to the overall importance of kindness, more specifically, towards the pizza dude (“Be Cool to the Pizza Dude” 2).

Adams wraps up her essay by adding the suggestion of tipping the pizza dude for good luck, and good karma. Response Much like Sarah Adams wrote in “Be Cool to the Pizza Dude,” I too have an operating philosophy which is to respect other people’s time to speak and to hear them out. I think, in all honesty, it is one of the most disrespectful things to speak while someone else is speaking; interrupting them from their discourse. It’s just saying that one person’s words are more important than the other. It’s something that goes out the window these days, which seems to affect little to no people.

Sure people get annoyed, roll their eyes, stomp their feet, and wait impatiently; but never really amend the situation. They just steal the speaking slot right back, finding satisfaction in the reversion back to their original statement. I believe, even if I am the last person on earth that does, that there is a symbiotic relationship that comes from listening to other people; a true win-win situation. Not only do they get the respect that they deserve to express their opinions or feelings, but I gain the knowledge and insight; in them and also myself.

Listening to people, and I mean really listening, expands the picture one might have of a person in their heads into a living, breathing human being. A human being with emotions, fears, ambitions, dreams, and thoughts just like mine. Thoughts as vast

and abundant as everyone else’s; not that different, yet never the exact same. By listening to someone, that someone become real. And realizing someone else in this world is real, helps us to not be so self-revolving, and see the other 7 billion people on the planet for what they are; real human beings.

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Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick, Maine

Be Cool To The Pizza Dude

August 12, 2018

Reading “Be Cool to the Pizza Dude,” by Sarah Adams (a “This I Believe” essay)

If I have one guiding philosophy about life, it is this: “Be cool to the pizza delivery dude; it’s good luck.” Four principles guide the pizza dude philosophy.

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude

Sarah Adams

Audio and Text

Sarah Adams grew up in Wisconsin. She is a professor of English at Olympic Community College in Seattle, Washington. Adam’s essay, “Be Cool to the Pizza Dude,” was one of the first listener-submitted pieces read on National Public Radio for the This I Believe series. In this piece, Adams discusses her personal philosophy of life through the lens of pizza delivery. After reading the essay, answer the critical reading questions that follow.

AS YOU READ : What are Adams’s four principles?

I f I have one operating philosophy about life, it is this: “Be cool to the pizza delivery dude; it’s good luck.” Four principles guide the pizza dude philosophy.

Principle 1: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in humility and forgiveness. I let him cut me off in traffic, let him safely hit the exit ramp from the left lane, let him forget to use his blinker without extending any of my digits out the window or toward my horn because there should be one moment in my harried life when a car may encroach or cut off or pass and I let it go. Sometimes when I have become so certain of my ownership of my lane, daring anyone to challenge me, the pizza dude speeds by in his rusted Chevette. His pizza light atop his car glowing like a beacon reminds me to check myself as I flow through the world. After all, the dude is delivering pizza to young and old, families and singletons, gays and straights, blacks, whites, and browns, rich and poor, and vegetarians and meat lovers alike. As he journeys, I give safe passage, practice restraint, show courtesy, and contain my anger.

Principle 2: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in empathy. Let’s face it: We’ve all taken jobs just to have a job because some money is better than none. I’ve held an assortment of these jobs and was grateful for the paycheck that meant I didn’t have to share my Cheerios with my cats. In the big pizza wheel of life, sometimes you’re the hot bubbly cheese and sometimes you’re the burnt crust. It’s good to remember the fickle spinning of that wheel.

Principle 3: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in honor, and it reminds me to honor honest work. Let me tell you something about these dudes: They never took over a company and, as CEO , artificially inflated the value of the stock and cashed out their own shares, bringing the company to the brink of bankruptcy, resulting in twenty thousand people losing their jobs while the CEO builds a home the size of a luxury hotel. Rather, the dudes sleep the sleep of the just.

Principle 4: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in equality. My measurement as a human being, my worth, is the pride I take in performing my job—any job—and the respect with which I treat others. I am the equal of the world not because of the car I drive, the size of the TV I own, the weight I can bench-press, or the calculus equations I can solve. I am the equal to all I meet because of the kindness in my heart. And it all starts here—with the pizza delivery dude.

Tip him well, friends and brethren, for that which you bestow freely and willingly will bring you all the happy luck that a grateful universe knows how to return.

“Be Cool to the Pizza Dude” by Sarah Adams. © 2005 by Sarah Adams. From the book THIS I BELIEVE: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman. © 2006 by This I Believe, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC. CAUTION: Users are warned that this Selection is protected under copyright laws and downloading is strictly prohibited. The right to Reproduce or transfer the Selection via any medium must be secured from Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

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