College Essay: The Wrath of a Desk

I am the co-founder and co-owner of 3 technology companies that were started here in Colorado almost 2 years ago. During this time, our central office has moved several times to account for our company’s growth. With each move, for one reason or another, the inventory of random furniture and other odd paraphernalia has only increased. Being what many business owners still consider a small company, we do not yet have the financial luxury of hiring a moving company. This unfortunate speed bump has led to several sore backs, strained muscles and blistered hands. You can bet that if the opportunity ever arises for us to trash some unwanted chair, couch or shelving unit we will do so. Finally it had been decided that the old, cheap and decrepit desk that had sat in the front of the office would meet its doom. Saying that I was ecstatic about this choice would be an understatement. I loathed this desk and trust me, I made sure I would be the one to pass judgment on its’ poor soul.
This damn desk fought me the whole way. Moving it out of the office I must have smashed my hands a dozen times as it deliberately tried to catch every corner. In the parking lot, it attempted to escape on several occasions by sliding off the dolly that it rested on. Its’ efforts were futile though, and it met the back of my truck with a crashing force that nearly broke it in two. Because we did not have a dumpster that belonged to us or the building we were in, it would be necessary to can this thing illegally. The plan from here was to obliterate it with sledge hammers and put it to rest in some random dumpster. After careful consideration though, I decided the most efficient solution would be keeping it intact as much as possible. The next step was locating the dumping spot, which I found about 2 miles away in a neighborhood just undergoing construction.
Making sure that no one was around, I pulled up to the dumpster and began tossing in the few broken pieces of desk that had managed to fall off during the move. Keep in mind that I was doing this in a hurry as I did not wish to get caught trashing our desk in this construction company’s dumpster. I figured that the remaining amount of desk would be rather light so I attempted to pick it up. This maneuver didn’t work. Moving around to its’ other side I tried again. This failed too and I realized how cumbersome it still was. Looking around I knew that time was running out and if I did not get the job done soon and escape I would get caught. Finally, I moved around so I was standing in the back of my truck and found a tremendous grip on it. I gave it my all and lifted with everything I had. This was where I made my mistake. Whether the desk planned this or just got a lucky break I will never know. What happened next would have been the world’s funniest video if it had been caught on tape. Almost an instant after I had lifted the desk, the piece I was holding on to broke away and smashed full speed into my face. I could barely see and started to stumble about. The problem here was that I was already at the back of my truck bed, and to add insult to injury I tripped on the tail gate of my truck and fell backwards out of the bed. I must have been out for only a second or two and when I came to, I instantly climbed into the driver seat and took off.
On my retreat to the office, with the desk still in the back, I began to think about what had just happened. Noticing a very bad nose bleed and a growing headache, I decided that I had deserved my pain. No matter how badly I wanted to get mad at the desk, I just could not. It was at that moment when I realized how much I had grown up from being a high tempered youth. I always used to blame other people or other events for causing pain and discomfort in my life. It is such an easy thing to not accept responsibility for one’s actions. In this case I was completely in the wrong. I had tried to throw away junk in a dumpster that did not belong to me, full knowing that it was wrong. I have noticed how much better I have become at making good decisions and learning from my mistakes. I understand throwing away a desk in someone else’s property is a very bad choice, regardless of how much easier it is than paying to have it properly trashed. It is decisions like this that I rarely ever make now but I will still learn from it. What I took away from it, besides a broken nose and a mild concussion, was the agony I could have caused someone else. Had I tossed that entire desk, someone would have had to remove it; which would cost them time and money. This has led me to make decisions that will have a positive affect on all people, rather than ones that only affect me.