Cpl. Ali Azimi

Photo By Sgt. Alejandro Bedoya | Azimi immigrated to America from Tehran, Iran, and joined the Marine Corps at the age of 18. He plans to continue his education after separating from active service and pursue a degree in psychology.  

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

08.08.2014

Story by Cpl. Ali Azimi 

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - It didn’t take me long to figure out what kind of person I am. When you know, you know.

I don’t mean my career or anything like that. To me it's all about where I live and who I am. As long as I’m happy, I don’t mind if I’m poor.

My personal motto is, “I’m good at everything, but great at nothing.”

So yeah sure, I can make a half-court hook shot, but I’ll never make three-point shots consistently because that takes more than luck or natural ability. It takes practice and “ain’t nobody got time for that.”

I have a sixth sense. It’s not like the movie; I can’t speak to dead people, however, I can tell when squirrels are afraid.

I hope my sixth sense becomes useful one day, but I’m not sure when that day might come.

My thoughts usually dwell on the zombie apocalypse. I know what to look for and where to go. I even have a meet-up spot with my brother.

I’d use my sixth sense as a radar system. Squirrels are all over Los Angeles, so if I smell their fear, I’ll know which directions to avoid.

Not many people know I write poetry. “My name is chuck. I have the luck of a conquistador. But when I fray to save the day, I am struck by heaven’s door.”

I just made that up on the spot. See, good, but not great.

I believe, day dreaming is one of the best things you can do with those few extra minutes you have in your day, standing in line or waiting for someone.

It really frees your mind and you start to come up with ideas you would never come across otherwise.

I have a lot of strange theories about the world.

The moon isn’t just up there in the sky. It’s following me.
Judging me. I don’t like the moon very much.

“Life” cereal can actually kill you. It’s ironic really.

When you blink the world turns off and back on when you open your eyes.

Those are just a few but you get the point. I don’t believe in any of them but it’s crazy to think about; the possible realities that may be all around us.

To admit you know nothing is true knowledge. Someone famous said that, but I’m not sure who. I take it as, anything is possible. I live for possibility.

I might possibly be an alien with amnesia. That's actually an idea I have for a sitcom. It’s copyright, don’t steal it.

My GoPro is one of my prized possessions. It lets me show things from my perspective. Skewed, odd and endlessly random.

I want to go into a psychological field. I tell people it's because I want to understand the human mind, but really I just want to prove I’m the only normal person on Earth.

The most important thing to know about me and what is all-encompassing of my character is I like to make sure the people around me are happy, smiling and laughing. If people read this and smile just once then I’ve done my job, because if you make a person smile, you’ve improved a moment of their life. That's what I want to do with my life. Despite what career path I choose I’m going to make the world smile.

• Date Taken: 08.08.2014
• Date Posted: 08.08.2014 12:14
• Story ID: 138722
• Location: TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, US