“I look around for my girls, but they’re gone, of course” (Updike). “A & P” is a story that emphasizes a teenage boy’s life and highlights the different experiences that occur in it. The main character, Sammy, is a young teenage boy who works at a grocery store. When three young teenage girls walk in the store, his attention is immediately drawn towards them. Throughout the story, Sammy watches the girls as if he is under a trance and the world is put on hold. In the end of the story, Sammy makes a decision spur of the moment and the outcome doesn’t turn out to be in his favor.

In general, people can learn to think before taking action. In the story, Sammy quits his job spur of the moment and doesn’t think about the decision that he is making. In the end, the outcome of his decision doesn’t play into his favor. Sammy ends up with nothing and regrets the decision he made. As a result, people should think before they act to obtain the best outcome. Teens can learn that they shouldn’t make a decision based on silly ideas. In the story, Sammy saw these three beautiful girls and they put him in a trance. As a result, he wasn’t thinking clearly. He wanted these three girls and he let them control his actions instead of taking control himself. I would recommend this story to teenagers because I think that every teenager can relate to this story. Even though it was written a while ago, it is a common situation that happens in teenagers’ lives every day. I wouldn’t recommend this story for adults because I think that they wouldn’t fully comprehend the story. I think this because the story displays a teenager’s life and adults aren’t teenagers anymore. Adults wouldn’t fully understand the situation that Sammy was put into like teenagers would.