Isn’t it funny when you look back at your childhood and think of the things that kept you entertained? For example, I remember a time period when watching the mechanical arm in a soda vending machine move up and grab my soft drink purchase, then safely bring it down to the slot was one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen. I also remember when buying a hard, flavorless gumball for a quarter was a great thrill, just to watch it slide around in circles as it traveled down the ramp.
Well, the days of being entertained by gumball machines and drink vending machines are way behind me. These days, I go see a 3-D spectacle like Tron or Avatar and find myself yawning. I go to a rock ‘n roll show with blaring music, crazy smoke effects and six-trillion different lighting arrangements, and I’m barely impressed, if at all. I watch shows on television and expect either non-stop action or non-stop laughs, and if I don’t I deem the show “just okay.”
Maybe I’m becoming cynical, or perhaps it is just part of growing up. Whatever the case, it makes it even more enjoyable when I see my son, head pushed up against the soda vending machine and eyes full of wonder as the mechanical arm follows his every commandment.