I’ll Have What They’re Having

Last night I had a chance to partake in a little fireworks action. Kim and I have an ongoing debate; she’d prefer they’d shoot ’em all off in in the span of about 10 seconds. I, on the other hand, like when they’re spread out a little bit so I can savor them, you know, like a fine wine. (But not too much; my hometown liked spreading them out so much you could read a few pages of the dictionary between each explosion.)

[Digression alert] By the way, have you ever noticed that fireworks on TV are unbelievably terrible? On the surface, it seems like a good match: television easily delivers the sights and the sounds of the show, the two primary elements, right? Well, while watching a newscast this morning close with the very same grand finale I saw last evening, I thought to myself, “That’s nothing like what I experienced last night.” Then it hit me: they’re missing the feel of the fireworks. It’s just not the real deal unless you can feel the big booms rattle your bones. And that’s why I think fireworks on TV suck. [End of digression.]

Anyhoo, one of the highlights of last night was a row of small kids — kindergarten age — sitting behind us on the curb, lined up along the street. Through most of the show, they screamed and cheered as the fireworks exploded across the sky like electric party favors. At one point, Kim asked me, “Can you imagine being so excited by this that your natural inclination was to cheer at the top of your lungs?”

No. No, I can’t. But it seemed like fun.

Somewhere along the line, we lose that unbridled childlike enthusiasm. It occurs at different times for different people. (Some people are even lucky enough to never have lost it.) I’m not sure even I’d want to live in a world where everyone, everywhere cheered anytime something remotely exciting happened. (Although it might be fun: My Cherry Coke came with TWO cherries! Yeehaaaa!!!)

A jump to such an extreme might be a bit much for the mainstream. But it would be nice if someone (Jones Soda, maybe?) could extract that highly-concentrated childlike cheer and create a diluted version for the masses. Maybe eventually we could up the dosage, but I’m betting just a little sliver would make a big difference. (I know a few people that a drop of the stuff just might kill.)

I don’t know much about bottling soft drinks, but I can offer this reminder: life can be a lot of fun. Let’s try and shed this “been there, done that, got the t-shirt” attitude we get as we get older. Let’s make a point to celebrate the little things.

Maybe even with a woo hoo or a yippee skippee every once in a while.

[tags]fireworks, little things, 4th of July, Independence Day, childlike, enthusiasm[/tags]