In Anne Lamott's essay "Polaroids", she speaks of an article that she had to write on the Special Olympics. In this article she speaks of how she observed the "special" athletes competing in all the events. Lamott comments that at the begging of the day, while watching the events, that the day seemed to go by very slow, and how she just wanted it to be over with. But as the day draws to an end, Anne realizes that there is much more to the events than just a competition of winning or losing. In Lamott's essay she compares her observations at the Special Olympics and the article she wrote about it to the development of a Polaroid picture.
Lamott describes the way it felt to write and article on the Special Olympics by comparing it to the focus of a picture. She describes it by saying that when you are aiming your camera to take a Polaroid that you don't really know what your picture is going to be focused on, until you actually see the picture develop. " Maybe your Polaroid was supposed to be of the boy against the fence, and you didn't notice that a family was standing a few feet away.", describes Lamott. She then states how a paper can have the same effect; you can began focusing on one particular topic, but as the paper progresses you realize that that there are many other subjects through out the paper.
In Lamott's essay, she compares her observations at the Special Olympics to the developing process of a Polaroid picture. She states that at the beginning of the event that she thought the competitions would never end. "The race took just about forever. And here it was nearly noon and we were all so hungry.", explains Lamott. But as the day progressed she then talked to one of the participants, and while talking to this man, she realizes that the event is much more than just something to give the "special" people to do. It was a big deal for them, they all had fun doing. Whether they won or lost, they all enjoyed themselves.
