Series: Mosaic Tablets (3/10)

Number three: envy [10]

Exodus 20:17 - "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

If envy was acceptable, this is the list I would make:
Older sister: Without really knowing how to put it into words, I'd have to say that I envy how she has experienced parts of the world. She has seen things and been to places that I just probably won't ever see or go to. She's also done stuff that I would have liked to do. It's a very trecharous balance, wanting what I know is not good for me because it feels good. It's a weird temptation and it scares me as much as it pleases me. Jim Carroll's "Basketball Diaries" does the same for me but Jim Carroll is not my older sister.
Younger brother: I think I'd have to say I'm envious of his friends. I'm envious that he was famous within his high school, that people he doesn't know would come up to him and say, "Hey you're that hot-dog guy!" or something like that (because of a prank he'd pulled with hot-dogs). I envy his friends because they have so so so much fun together. They get each other, they fit into each other's worlds well and they enjoy themselves. It's cool.
http://www.bushmanandsnowflake.cjb.net/ (their website)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=f3QRqf6RH5A (video feat. my bro-dude)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sy9XMqs_h6Y (video feat. his best friend)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tw9uF0Bh_n8 (video feat. both nutjobs)
[links 1, 2 and 3 contain coarse language. viewer discretion is advised.]
Younger brother #2: I'm envious of his athletic abilities. Nevermind being able to take to any one sport at the drop of a hat but spending 5 days out of 7 in American states with the Ontario Blue Jays, being scouted by the majors, and throwing 89mph.... it's ridiculous.
Younger brother #3: He's too weird. He's weirder than I can really comprehend and his influences are unbeknownst to me. I also love that he's so quick-witted. He's got to be the fastest in the family and it adds to the effect when he literally speaks quickly.
His mom: Actually, J____, you really need to start saving cuz you've been working for three months and you don't have a penny to your name.
Brother #3: No, I have eighteen hundred...(pause)...pennies to my name. ...I have eighteen dollars.
Younger Sister: I am envious of her beauty. I didn't think I would end up listing something so shallow but heck - let's just be honest. Honesty is a good thing. She fits in perfectly with the definition of conventional beauty. Fortunately (fortunately for her own sake and for my peace of mind), she doesn't exploit her beauty to the fullest extent. She might get into that eventually but I doubt that simply because I think she already gets more attention than she's perfectly comfortable with. She is probably the most popular girl in school and she loves it. She makes girls jealous and makes boys ...ridiculous. I'm not particularly interested in that stuff I'm just amazed at how naturally beautiful she is, and how she fits the mold. It's crayzee.
Younger Brother #4: I admire his raw artistic ability. He is adept at drawing what he sees and that is amazing for a seven-year-old. I ...oops..envy not admire... I envy his sponge-like ability to learn. He is quiet when he's paying attention to what adults are saying, knowing that we will assume he's not listening so we're free to talk about something relating to him. I'm envious of his recklessness, that he'll just try anything but that's typical of most young kids. Really, what strikes me most about him is how competent he is and I know it's mostly natural ability because he has had the same parental and grandparental influences as this three older siblings yet he stands out in this way.
Younger Sister #2: I envy her incorrigable cuteness. It's not something I could reasonably have as an adult because then I would just look ridiculous and annoy the crap out of people. But I must envy her care-free nature (which, again, is a given for young children). I love that she's smiling most of the time, that she's resilient, that she's forgiving and that she's reasonably patient. She enjoys quiet moments but can deal with chaotic loud ones, too. These are mostly admiring comments... I find it hard to envy her before she's really...a real person.

Mother: I envy her work attitude. It's practically impeccable. She works for what she wants and attains it. She knows what she needs and what she wants and is very responsible in terms of how she accumulates goods or services.
Father: I envy his patois. I like the way it sounds and I like that he's... effectively bilingual. (I'm going to make that leap.) I also envy his endurance. He rarely sleeps more than five hours per night and rarely eats a full meal and rarely works fewer than 10 hours a day, usually including weekends. Yes, there are drawbacks to that lifestyle, of course, of course. But I do admire how he can just go go go go go. He's the kind of being that helps me to understand how people endured slavery. Like you look at what was done and just can't imagine how a human body and a human mind would withstand it all ..but people were different then. With different parents, different influences, different conditioning and no choice, it was totally possible.