Wednesday, June 16, 2010

KING KONG SOUVENIR FROM NEW YORK

I really liked this when I saw it in the store. After buying it I obsessively worried I'd break the antenna off the top. See how skinny it is? It looked really fragile. I was making a conscious effort to baby it all day while site-seeing. When I got it back to the hotel I'd worked myself up into a nervous wreck. I realize now it's silly but it consumed my every thought for the several days while I was there. If it broke it would ruin the whole thing. It wouldn't look like the Empire State Building anymore. I kept thinking about how much more handling it was going to receive before I could finally sit it on a shelf back at home. I just new those guys in the airport would fling it in the baggage truck and snap it off.



In the hotel room I carefully wrapped toilet paper around the antenna, and then wrapped tape around that, and then I wrapped that with newspaper and that with a sock. Then I put that in a bag and wrapped that in a t-shirt, and put that in my boot. Then I placed the boot in the center of my suitcase with clothes surrounding all sides of it.

All the way home I fretted about it. When I got home I opened the layers of wrappings and was relieved to see it was still intact. At closer examination I learned it was a pressed-in antenna and it was made of very flexible rubber. I don't think it would have broken even if it were dropped from the Empire State Building. Now I have mixed feelings about it. I don't like it as much after learning it's not all fragile. I don't know why.

4 comments:

  1. Hilarious anecdote Keith! :)
    especially the part about puting it into your boot :)
    It's Kong man!!!!! breakable or not it rocks
    - - Jay

    ReplyDelete
  2. KW: Man, that thing deceived you, that's why you hate it now. I totally understand. It was probably laughing at all our thoughtful efforts, secretly thinking you a fool when really you just wanted to take care of it.

    I'd burn it, is what I'd do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very Asian of you... to covet something super fragile... like a delicate tea cup...

    Whenever I weld something super sturdy, I reassure myself with the following thought:

    "Someday soon, rust will claim it back to the Earth and all my energy will be for naught!"

    ReplyDelete
  4. R/E- Thanks for the visit!

    Mykal- Ha ha! I'm inclined to destroy it just like you say, now that I think about it.

    Lysdexicuss- A long time ago they sold some little bottle with a brush in it, and you could paint it onto rust spots on cars and it would create a chemical reaction and turn the rust into a hard black shell, and it would never rust in that spot ever again. Now when I go to the automotive store and ask for that stuff they act like I'm crazy and they don't know what I'm talking about. If I ever do find it again I'll pay attention to the name and let you know.

    ReplyDelete

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