A 23 Year-Old Writes His Will
By Lance Pauker
I recently moved into New York City. The homie commonly know as Zeitgeist would lead you to believe that I’m telling you this due to some conflated sense of self-importance, a trend primarily brought about by getting pumped the fuck up by every new twitter follower. This is of course, shamelessly true.
(Note: I used the word “shameless” in that last sentence, because people who acknowledge themselves in self-deprecating fashion think the self-deprecation gets them off the hook for being douchey. Of course, it ironically does the opposite.)
In other words, telling you of my recent move is a confirmation that despite being a postgrad in the real world who has no clue, I am also on the right track. Obviously this is beyond crucial, and is the sole reason why there’s no point in instagramming your tapas* unless they are sitting in your “look, I can’t afford things” kitchen—a nice foreground to your decidedly meh window-side view that gets much more Facebook likes than it aesthetically merits because MANHATTAN. It also sets the stage nicely for me to tell you about a mundane occurrence, that is obviously a huge deal because it occurred on the elevator of my apartment building in New York City, the surefire sign that I am a 23 year old, who, despite being on the right track, is figuring everything out and doesn’t have a clue.
INT. Elevator, Apartment Building – Day
Me: Dawg, I have all this change that I’m saving up in my change jar.
Roommate: You talk about this change jar a lot
Me: Not only is such obsession a tremendous exhibition of Judaism, but it also underscores that while I would one day like to have a cabinet with spices that no one ever uses, being fiscally irresponsible is a hobby I cannot currently enjoy. Overall, a win-win
Roommate: Truth. The East Village
Me: What?
Roommate: It is a requirement for people our age to randomly mention vibrant neighborhoods in the cities we have just moved to.
Me: Oh word. But this change jar. I’m thinking either I cash out at the end of each calendar year, or wait like 30 years and go on a dope sauce vacation. I really wanna do a second one, but what if I die? I know that we have all the time in the world, but some of us are unfortunately winners of the reverse lottery, so its important to savor every day and all that good shit.
Roommate: What if you write a will? That way it wouldn’t go to waste
Me: Yea, but that still doesn’t solve the problem of ME, Ricky Bobby’s racing automobile, capitalizing on using the change.
Roommate: But that’s where you couldn’t be more wrong, my friend. You could BLOG your will!
Me: HOLY SHIT
Roommate: You’re welcome. Looks like you have a date with that desk of yours that is way too nice for you to have at this stage of life, but isn’t because of helicopter parents.
CUT TO
Me, Desk, Now
Homies, this is my Will. Also known as my Smith, my I.AM, or my Nye the Science Guy.
I am accomplishing two things here. One, if I do happen to die, this shit will go VIRAL and I would get so many more twitter followers up in death-land. Two, I can underscore how I don’t have many possessions at the moment, but the little things in life. With all that said, the contents of my will:
A. Change Jar
My Jar of Judaism, also known as a green lysol jar with a fuck ton of change it, goes to my good friend {redacted}. As a person who is into mundane things that are actually not mundane, he is perhaps the only person who would treat said change jar with such undying and unnecessary devotion. He is also currently making great strides in catching up on Breaking Bad, a television show that I am required to mention at least once per post as mandated by blogging law.
B. Backpack With Patches of Every Country I Went To While Abroad In Europe
Nothing screams “look, I am an individual” more than this. Therefore, I would like it to be buried alongside me.
C. Dillon Panthers Trucker Hat
To {redacted}, {redacted}, and {redacted}. All are former college roommates who share a collective passion for Dillon Panthers Football.
Furthermore, because including them in my Ferrell is the ultimate testament of BFFs, I now don’t have to attend one of their bachelor parties should it seem unappealing.
D. Books
Will be split equally amongst the children of my two siblings. Being that they wouldn’t know me, they wouldn’t feel guilty about not reading them. Anyone else would just have to waste time out of some dumb sense of obligation that I am probably exaggerating.
E. Artsy as fuck picture collage
On my wall, I have a picture collage of things I find particularly dope sauce, inspirational, or attractive. Essentially the same idea as the “wall of legends,” except I had mine before hipsters started saying they had things before other people.
I bequeath this to my good friend {redacted}, who is really cleaning up on this will.
F. A Sweatshirt of Choice
To {Girl Who Will Take Sweatshirts Anyway Because That’s What Girls Do When Given Access To Male Sweatshirts}
G. Ripped Georgetown Basketball T Shirt
To {Redacted Bar/Club Name}, who would likely never accept this, because stooping to one’s level defeats the entire purpose of nightclubs
H. Dope Sauce Light, That Looks Like A Tripod
There’s a few options here, but all of them are kind of weird and essentially networking plays.
I. Random “Buy 11 Sanwiches, Get One Free” Card
To {redacted friend who will kill it as an old man}, who likes this particular sandwich establishment more than people who unbutton one too many buttons like cocaine. I’m two sandwiches away from a free one, so this is a really good deal
J. The Optioning Rights To This Will
To {redacted friend who treats everything as a potential business venture}, for coming up with the tremendous idea to do this will
K. All Other Possessions
To be converted in cash, in the hopes of helping finance a “You Got Served”-esque movie dealing with the unforgiving underground twerk scene.