An Observation of My Friend Essay -- Profile Essays, Observation Essay

Sunday - the day of self-loathing for most college students who have squandered their weekends and dread the awaiting workload. Crammed into lounge booths, commiserating over brunch, students nurse sullen moods and hangovers with orange juice and french toast. Allen Wilcox is playing with his broccoli, head cocked, eyes crossed. Looking sidelong to make sure that people are watching, he picks up the half-bagel from his plate, thick with cream cheese, stands up on his chair and rubs it erotically all over the front of his pants. This is so typical. Allen’s world is a stage and the spotlight is on him. We are, all of us, the audience for his life-series of mini-dramas packed with love and heartbreak, pranks and partying and outbreaks of rage. His behavior may be juvenile, but most of us would rather say it is something outlandish, or playful, or just simply and extravagantly histrionic. Allen makes people laugh and sometimes speaks beautifully (did you know that he writes poetry?). This is the same young man who, last summer, kicked a hole through both layers of sheet rock in the ho...