kevin sweeting

@kevinsweeting.com

133 Followers 197 Following

classon avenue tomato farmer

Having to wear glasses in the first grade was a real turning point in my life. My mother had me tested, and it turned out I was nearsighted, so she made me get glasses. They were so bad. One day I was leaving school at lunchtime to go home and I had some meatballs from the cafeteria wrapped up in aluminum to keep them hot. This guy came up to me and said, “Hey, you got any money?” I said, “No.” He started picking my pockets and searching me, and he tried to take my fucking meatballs. I was resisting, going, “No, no, no!” I would let the bullies take my money, but I never let them take my food. I was hunched over like a human shield, protecting my meatballs. So he started hitting me in the head and then took my glasses and put them down the gas tank of a truck. I ran home, but he didn’t get my meatballs. I still feel like a coward to this day because of that bullying. That’s a wild feeling, being that helpless. You never ever forget that feeling. That was the last day I went to school. I was 7 years old, and I just never went back to class.
screenshot of a NYTimes opinion piece headlined "Putin Is Obsessed With Something He Can’t Get"
The box contained various coins, antiques, a Civil War-era bullet, a map and a note from the author himself. It is now in a safe deposit box, Ms. Wakefield said, and has yet to be appraised. (She’ll get to it eventually, she said.) The creator of this treasure hunt, Mr. O’Connell, is a 61-year-old, recently retired history buff who took money out of his retirement funds to create multistate treasure hunts guided by his two books. One of his books, “Lady Liberty’s Treasure Hunt,” is aimed at adults, and the other, “Riley’s Treasure Chase,” at children. Collectively, the hidden chests have antiques worth upward of $100,000, he said, though that has not been independently verified by The New York Times. He declined to say how many chests he had hidden; nearly 10 have been found, he said. Mr. O’Connell encouraged treasure hunters to read his books carefully for clues.