The Crash Essays - Moped, 9, DraftGerald Roch,

The Crash I needed a topic to write about, and it just so happened that I crashed into it literally! So literal in fact, that it makes me shiver whenever I think about it. It all happened a couple weekends ago, when I went to the Nuuanu YMCA (the one along the Pali Highway). This is where I met my friends who were about to take me on a journey that I wish I hadnt gone. It was still early in the day, by no means past three oclock. While I was sitting at the bus stop, I noticed it was a nice day. The sky was a brilliant azure with a few white pillows here and there. I was overcome with that mysterious feeling that one might get when someone smiles at him or her and the only thing he or she can do is smile back. The sky was smiling at me. I told myself, Today is going to be a good day. How wrong I would be. I caught the bus to the Nuuanu YMCA, a place that always brings back a lot of memories, some of which Id rather forget. I never really realize that I have lived so much of my past there. My plan for the day was to meet my best friend, Isaac, who worked at that YMCA. However, as soon as I got there, I just so happened to bump into some other friends from the YMCA. Ive known Bradley (sometimes called Brad for short) and Travis for quite a while now. I met them two or three years ago when I joined the YMCA. During my conversation with Brad, he asked me if I wanted to join them for a night of riding mopeds. I eagerly accepted his offer. We called up about a dozen rental places, but all of them were closed. Then Travis remembered hearing about moped rentals in Waikiki that were supposedly open until late in the night. We soon found out that this bit of information wouldnt help us much because we couldnt remember where exactly the place was. So we ended up going to Waikiki searching for this place. We looked like three tourists. Brad drove while Travis searched the right and I searched the left. After being lost for more than an hour, we eventually found the place. But finding the shop wasnt the worst part about getting the mopeds. I never knew it took so long to rent a moped. It took a whole 30 minutes for the paper work, then another 15 minutes for the common sense explanation of how to start the engine. The disappointing part was that we needed to get to Kaneohe by eleven. Brad told Travis and I to meet him back at the YMCA because he had to go home to get his moped. We didnt start riding until 9:30, and to make it worse, the scooter went only 30 miles-per-hour. We made it back to the YMCA by 9:45. It took us only 15 minutes to get back; I was impressed. When we got there, Brad was waiting for us, and I guess he didnt feel the same because as we got near him we heard him swearing up a storm while he tried to start up his moped. We were finally ready to start our night. Brad was the first one out of the parking lot with Travis and I following behind. While we were sitting at the first stop light Brads mopeds engine dies. It was quite difficult trying to start that thing back up. We did get a good laugh, however, watching him on the sidewalk, jumping up and down on his starter. By the time he got it started, he was all red in the face and wasnt a happy camper. Right after we got out of all the traffic lights he zoomed far ahead of us, trying to make a point that his moped was faster than ours. I guess he didnt enjoy us laughing at his misfortune. Travis and I were wondering when he was going to start slowing down. It would be pretty scary to go up and down Pali Highway by ones self, especially if