Tall Drink of Nerd: The Funk Lifter

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a blogumn by Amy Robinson

Truth be told, even with all the Zen stuff I spout and do my best to follow, I get in a funk sometimes. Usually it’s related to being a lady and monthly timing and stuff. My recent funkiness is starting to lift and one little girl at Target today illustrated funk-lifting beautifully.

I queued up in the checkout line with a young woman unloading her cart. In the back of the cart, with the paper-towels and fruit snacks, was a happy 3 yr old boy. Seated in the front of the cart was a 2 yr old girl. That girl was distraught, massive shiny wet tears rolled down her red cheeks.  An elongated cry of misery wailed from her soul.  Her mouth was open so wide in sadness that I could see little white teeth and baby tonsils.

Being no help to the mother, I was laughing. Clearly the girl was just mad, the mother didn’t seem too terribly distressed by it.  She seemed rather calm for a mother of two with a yowling child.  The mother turned to her baby and said, “Somebody is cranky!” I stuck my tongue out at the girl and smiled, she just stared and continued to wail away.

Then a Target cashier came over from an adjacent register, with a red balloon floating on the end a white nylon string. She tied it to the handle of the cart in front of the baby and the little girl looked around, looked up at the balloon and her crying slowly turned to shoulder shrugging sighs. Then she smiled.

My husband, Seen, who was waiting for me about 10 ft away, witnessed the entire scene.  He was smiling too. I pointed at the balloon and said to him, “Remember this trick for the next time I have PMS.”

All hail the simple healing power of a red balloon.