Who Is That Kid Anyway?

"I'll race you! I'll race you!" The Vitamin Kid pawed nervously at the ground. I never knew his real name, everyone just called him the Vitamin Kid, even the teachers at school. He could run, oh how he could run!
(Anaya, Bless Me Ultima, 36)

This was a moment of real nostalgia for me.

Since the time I was in 4th grade I have always been a runner. I ran cross country and track and I loved it. I was fast, confident, and enjoyed a good ole' fashion foot race. When it was time for my 5th grade year to start there was a new kid at school, just moved into the area, and everyone called him K-Mart. For the longest time I had no idea why they called him K-Mart, nor did I know his real name. He came out for the cross country team because he was too skinny for football and he was really good. I had a real challenge every race just to barely beat him. He and I got to be pretty close for the next few years until high school, then he moved away. In that time I learned that his real name was Jonathan and that the reason he was called K-Mart was because one week when he moved into town he only had one shirt, it was a white t-shirt that said K-Mart on it. The merciless elementary kids judged him and he lived with a mean nickname for the rest of his time there.

I had not thought about Jonathan for about 6 years, but when I read this part I was taken right back to grade school; meeting Jon, getting to know him, racing against him, and becoming friends. I feel like Rudolfo Anaya, he probably got the idea to include the Vitamin Kid in his story because it was someone that he knew. In the story of my life I can write about my own Vitamin Kid, K-Mart.

To tie this all back into Bless Me Ultima, my comment is that kids are mean! Kids don't take the time to actually learn other kid's name, they just judge each other and give mean nicknames. In the book a kid is called Horse because he looks like he got kicked by a horse, there is a kid named Bones, and kids with other crazy nicknames. Also in the book the kids fight each other just to fight. We called Jonathan K-Mart when we should have taken the time to actually learn his name in the beginning. I'm sure we all have a Vitamin Kid or a K-Mart in our lives, who's yours?