Choices Made
Karma the cosmic law of cause and effect is evident in the choices made by people all the time. When a choice is made in a split second the consequences of that choice are not always taken into account. Most choices are made for more than just a single sided reason. On one side there is the noble selfless act and then there is the self-centered reasons on which a majority of choices are made. The consequences of a choice can be worse than what is expected at the time the choice is made. In John Updike’s “A&P” the main character Sammy makes the choice to quite his job after his boss embarrasses three girls that are going through his check out lane. The choice Sammy makes is not a wise one to make hastily. The out come is not what he expects and he does not fully understand the ramifications this choice will have on his life in a small town.
Sammy’s impulsive choice is the result of his resentment of his boss, Lengel, who starts to scold the girls for coming into his store wearing bathing suits. He doesn’t just inform them that when they come into the store they should put more modest clothing on but instead belittles them in front of the other customers. In this time period if women where out at in swimwear before they would go into a store they would put on a pair of short and shirt or at the least a long shirt that covered them up. During the exchange of words a crowd of people start to form in the other lane trying to avoid the confrontation but looking none the less at the girls; as Lengel informs that their shoulder need to be covered the next time they come in its policy. Sammy does not like the way Lengel is talking to the girls; to him the girls have not done anything wrong. Sammy is completely ok with the girls coming in their swimsuits, because it’s something different and out of the ordinary but mainly because he thinks they are attractive. So after checking the girls out, as they are walking away he quickly tells Lengel “I quit”(153), in hopes that the girls will hear him and stop. The choice is made and the effects are set into motion there is no turning back for Sammy.
Sammy makes this choice because he wants to be chivalrous and be their hero for standing up for them. He is hoping that by doing this it will catch the attention of Queenie the leader of the group. He also does not want to end up like the butcher, Lengel, or Stokesie. He wants to rebel and make more of his life then just following the conventional line, like a mindless sheep. Updike describes the mindless sheep perfect by saying, “the sheep pushing their carts down the aisle-the girls were walking against the usual traffic…”(151). Sammy is a young man around nineteen years old living in the late the 1950’s and early 1960’s where it is expected of him to work full time, get married, and have a family. Sammy still wants to experience the world and have fun before settling down.
Sammy made the choice, now he has to be prepared to deal with the consequences that come with it. Updike portrays that Sammy is mentally preparing for these consequence by saying, “[h]is face was dark grey and his back stiff, as if he’d just had an injection of iron, and my stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter”( 154). The immediate ramification he has to face is the fact that he no longer has a job, and that means no paycheck. Sammy will also have to face the disappoint from his family when he gets home, and tells them that he quit his job in hopes of impressing a girl. He lives in a kind of small town so he will be labeled as a rebel and might have a hard time finding another job. People will expect him to make impulsive decisions and will be unlikely to hire him. He also gets to feel the disappointment of the girls not being outside waiting for him after he walks out.
The circle of life is filled with choices and consequences. Sammy gets to learn that choices should not be made hastily in a moment of pride or passion. He learns the hard way that he should think about a choice before he makes it, because the outcome is not always what is wanted or expected. At the end of the story Sammy realizes that the adult world is not always going to be easy, and that sometimes he is going to have to step back and think about a situation before he makes a choice. Sammy now has to make the choice as to what he is going to do with his life and find his direction in the world. The greatest freedom a person has is their ability to make choices, but with this ability one has to be ready to accept and deal with what ever the out come maybe. For better or for worse we have to live by the choices we make.

Work Cited
Updike, John. “A&P.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 149-54. Print.