The Golden Rule

Prelude

August 23rd, 2012 was no normal day for Robert Hinds. No, by the time the day was through, things would never be the same... Before I get to telling you this, let me give you a bit of a background on Robert.

Robert was a sixteen year old living in a small town in Vermont. He was born in to a wealthy family and wasn't afraid to flaunt his wealth. He always wore expensive clothing, designer sneakers which he affectionately referred to as "dem nikes" and he drove an extravagant car. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, though some may be inclined to say that it was a silver fork, because the sense of entitlement did him no wonders.

At his age, Robert should be getting ready to begin his senior year, but alas all he seemed to do at school was bully people smaller than himself, and as such he was preparing to enter 10th grade for the third time. He didn't care, education took the back seat to drinking Bud Light and eating cheap snack foods. While he should be studying, he would be sitting in his room playing "Call of Duty." He didn't know it at the time, but these unflattering traits would set in a motion a chain of events that would drastically change his life.

August 23rd, 2012

Robert woke up well in to the day, not unusual for him. He walked downstairs to grab a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew and headed back up the stairs to his room. Out of breath from the trek, he opened the bottle of soda only for it to slip out of his hands, falling down the stairs and spilling it's contents all over the walls.

"Heh, what a butter fingers I am," he said to himself, "Oh... Butterfingers... damn I'm hungry."

He called out for his mother, yelling for her to go to the store. After about a minute of no response, it dawned on him that it was Thursday, and she was at work. Now in a bad mood, he decided he'd go to the store himself. Thirty minutes later, after Robert picked out his choice of wardrobe for the day, he was on the road. He popped in his favorite album and began singing along:

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill

Fifteen percent concentrated power of will

Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain

And a hundred percent reason to remember the name

The song was rather fitting, Robert always felt like he was better than everybody else. He always went on and on about how he would be famous and everybody would end up shining his shoes.

After a short drive, Robert arrived at the nearest grocery store. He stocked up on candy, soda and with fake ID in hand, a case of wine coolers.

Heading out of the store, he saw a familiar car in the parking lot, it belonged to Michael Smith, a classmate that he always picked on. After defacing his car a bit, he decided to wait for Michael to exit the store. Sure enough, Michael came walking out fifteen minutes later.

Robert immediately started insulting Michael about various subjects, ranging from his clothing to his choice of vehicle. Michael had dealt with this for a few years and was ready to retaliate. As Robert started to get physical, Michael beat him to the punch, literally. Robert fell backwards to the pavement, striking his head full force, and he blacked out.

September 14th, 2012

Robert awoke in a hospital room with little awareness of his surroundings. He had suffered a traumatic brain injury and had been in a coma for three weeks. He looked around at his family who had been at his side throughout the entire ordeal, and they could tell that he was dead behind the eyes. After a few more days of observation, the doctor concluded that he had suffered irreversible brain damage and would be subject to assisted living for the rest of his life.

Years passed and while Robert didn't regain many of his memories, one notable memory returned. Robert never paid much attention in school, yet ironically the clearest memory he has is of a concept they teach you early on:

The Golden Rule: One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.