Truth

There are some stories about me that can get a bit exaggerated. The following is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

The Nap

I won a science competition while sleeping through it, right? Not exactly.

I took part in a rather lengthy science competition called the Chemathon when I was in high school. Part of the contest was team trivia with little buzzers and all. Part of it was sort of like a spelling bee, but with science questions. Two parts of were written science exams. I fell asleep halfway through taking the second part of the written science exam.

During the awards ceremony, everyone from my high school sat in the back because we knew we didn't win anything and wanted a fast exit. When they called the top 10 people up to the stage, I won sixth place. I received a paper with my name on it and a Casio graphing calculator - which I still have and use.

The Arrow

I was shot with an arrow. This depends on your definition of shot.

I was walking home from school and I saw something buzz by in front of me. A short bit later, I heard something hit the ground behind me. Then, a bit later, something hit my leg. I looked down and there was an arrow on the ground. It hit the side of my leg, putting a small hole in my jeans and drawing a little blood. I looked around and saw another kid with a bow. "I'm sorry," he said. "I thought you were someone else."

Needless to say, we never became friends.

The Roommate Swap

When I took a date home, I met her roommate and started dating her.

This is true if you consider the first date a real date. I knew a woman who was a fireman. The movie "Backdraft" came out and she wanted to see it. I drove her to the theater and back home. I had met her roommate before, but not for very much time. I talked to her roommate that night and then the next day for many hours. We dated for seven years and then got married.

The Shark

I once caught a shark with my bare hands. Sounds rather amazing, right? Well, it isn't.

I was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean at Hunting Island. I thought I saw a catfish swim by me a couple times. There are catfish in the ocean? I had to check it out to be sure. So, when it came by again, I reached into the water and grabbed it. Pulling it out of the water, it was about a foot long and still looked a lot like a catfish. Then, I noticed that it did not have scales. It was a shark. So, I put it back in the water and let it swim away.

Since then, I've been told that it was probably a nurse shark, which is known to nip at people wading in shallow ocean water.

Invincible

I went through a car without getting hurt, right? No, not at all.

I was on a motorcycle (with my future wife on back) and a drunk driver with a suspended license came in my lane and hit me with a stolen, uninsured car. As I saw the collision coming, I pushed back with all my strength to try and push my future wife off the back of the motorcycle. She ended up going straight up in the air and straight back down - breaking her hand. I had a terrible collision with the car and then the pavement. While I did not break any bones, I did have massive soft-tissue damage that took a very long time to heal. Also, my helmet was shattered when I hit the car and I ended up with multiple cuts on my head (as well as my arms and legs) including a six inch gash across my forehead.

Because I didn't break a single bone, this is commonly referred to as an amazing act of invincibility. The truth is that I haven't broken a single bone since I broke my back in sixth grade - even though I should have multiple times. I attribute it to whatever treatment I received after breaking my back - I was too young to know what treatment I had. It worked, obviously, but apparently had a rather odd side effect. I've only grown one inch since then and my shoe size hasn't changed at all. So, the treatment obviously produced strong bones that don't grow.