EVRYTHING WRONG The way a person acts or perceives things can be can be caused by many different reasons such as having a bad upbringing like in Tickits by Paul Milenski. The short story is about a male named Toby Heckler who spends his days walking around town giving 'tickits' to people who may or may not be breaking rules. In Toby's ideal world, he would have more control and everything would be in order and if not, then he would hand out a miss-spelled ticket. For example, he gives a ticket to a man for littering, "PAPUR ON GRASS" but he also gives one to another man who almost walked across the street when the sign said 'DON'T WALK'. His want for control must have stemmed from the bad upbringing he received from his single mother. Having only one parent that "[lies] on the sofa, smoking, drinking, surrounded by TV magazines"(81) all day, Toby does not have parental figure to look up to. He is not able to control his mother therefore he has his tickets. Although Toby writes tickets for his mother, he never gives them to her but keeps them in a box labelled "MUTHERS TICKITS". Having no control with his mother, Toby needs to give tickets to the people in his town. This could possibly be a case of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). It seems that the only thing Toby does all day is to give tickets to people that do not do things properly in his eyes. But the tickets are not the only proof of OCD. The way the author describes how Toby walks and holds himself is another reason. "He snapped the cover on his Pilot Razor Point, slipped the pen over his ear, put the pad of yellow papers in his jacket pocket" (80). He walks with his chin held high; his movements are precise and thought out, another thing Toby can control. The biggest symbol in this story and Toby's most prized possession are his white sneakers. All throughout the story Toby makes sure his shoes stay clean and he also rubbed off the smudge on patrolman McVee's shoes. Although Toby would have rather stayed and give out tickets, when it started raining he left because his sneakers would get dirty and the slips would get wet. He was careful to avoid any puddles and took his shoes off when he got home and carried them upstairs to polish them. Toby takes special care in keeping them clean because unlike his mother and the citizens of his town, keeping his shoes clean is something he can control completely. Being in complete control and having everything perfect would be Toby's ideal world.