Comparing Stories 'Love In L. A And A & P'

John Calvert
Mr. Kirkpatrick
English 102
September 3, 2013
The Winners and the Losers When an event happens in someone’s life, it is certain that their lives will change no matter what. Maybe not in the long run but after a certain event happens, the experience will live with them forever. They can deny the fact that something major just happened in their life and will either change to try and avoid another similar situation or will deny the fact that they have to change. In the two stories “Love in L.A.” and “A & P”, the message in each story is about the characters ability to change. Sammy from “A & P” was able to change his life, maybe not for the good, but was able to pursue his dreams even if it meant losing a solid job and not
Jake lacks many things in life such as loving parents and a loving girlfriend but he mainly lacks attention and being careful throughout life. He never thinks twice about his actions but if it means keeping his freedom and not getting in trouble then he’ll do whatever it takes. Even if it means hurting someone around him for his own gain and then going on in life as if nothing ever happened being the same low-life that he is. Even though Jake thinks about what he does and what he is going to do, it is never in a positive way and it seems like somebody always gets hurt. He thinks about changing his life but the fact of keeping his freedom blinds him into doing deceitful things to keep it that way and never really changes. In the story, the inciting incident is when Jake rear-ends an innocent bystander while wanting to hurry through traffic but fate collides and the event spills out and eventually Jake is stopped on the side of the road thinking of what just happened. He is quick to admire what little damage he caused to his car “‘It didn’t even scratch my paint’, Jake told her in that way of his” (44), and admire the beauty
Maybe to meet a girl or get a new higher paying job but for now, it’s just another day at work. At least until it all changes when three beautiful women enter the store wearing nothing but bathing suits which is the inciting incident for Sammy. He is so love-struck with awe that he mistakenly rings up a box of HiHo crackers twice and gets heck for it by the customer “I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell” (440). He goes on describing the women in very peculiar ways as chubby, tall, and the queen. He describes the queen as the leader of the pack, teaching the other women how to gain attraction and to look like you know what you are doing, as she is the one who made them go in with her in the first place. Other than the fact of being in bathing suits, Sammy is drawn to the queen not only cause of her beauty, but because of the fact that her top was just slouching against her chest with the straps resting down her arms. This overwhelmed Sammy and made her more than pretty “With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of her suit and the top of her head except her. I mean, it was more than pretty” (441). As Sammy is watching the three ladies, they notice him and his coworker staring at them but they don’t mind as they continue on shopping going