one of these things is not like the other things
Back around Christmas, my boss at the Apple store gave me a little bag of these really low-grade gray plastic animals to throw in packages we were shipping to fancy people. Why he thought that fancy people would particularly appreciate low-grade gray plastic animals remains a mystery, but I ended up keeping a bunch of them for the purposes of instantly gaining the love of small children and setting up little Serengeti tableaux around my desk when I got bored.
The inventory guy and I had a pretty awesome scene going on for a while, with about eight or ten lions clustered around a giraffe lying on its side, the lions positioned so that they were looking up as if they'd been disturbed, glaring over in the direction of the customers as if to say "You're next, fatass."
Not many people even noticed that it was there, although the few who commented on it thought it was pretty funny. My boss felt that it was unprofessional looking, though, so the inventory guy took the giraffe and lions to his shady basement lair, where they will remain unprofessionally arranged on a shelf forever.
I kept five of the little guys around, though, and arranged them on top of a little box behind my computer. What's neat, though, is that when they're not in an obviously formal arrangement (such as "lion kill"), the customers like to put them in different positions while I'm not looking.
At least this is my assumption, because the other option, that they are moving around by themselves, is not possible. I'll come around the other side of the desk and the fox will be making out with the lioness, or they'll all be stacked on one another, or they'll all be upside down, or they'll all be walking around the perimeter in single file... it's very strange.
The inventory guy got back from a safari a couple of weeks ago and brought me back the little zebra, which I love. It's actually from Africa and made of wood, but has a certain crappy work ethic about it that I feel makes it fit in perfectly with my shitty plastic menagerie. I find that the arrangements that random customers put my toys into often involve segregating the wooden zebra from the plastic animals.
On a related note, I feel like that Sesame Street "One of these things is not like the other things" skit, while well-intentioned, has caused an entire generation to grow up humming that song in their head when they're sitting around three other people, noticing different traits about themselves that signify they just don't belong.
Maybe I'm projecting. But they changed it! At some point, the lyrics changed from what I remember as kid:
One of these things is not like the other things
One of these things doesn't belong
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
Before I finish this song?
to
One of these things is not like the others
Which one is different, do you know?
Tell me, which thing here is not like the others
And I'll tell you if it is so!
I knew it!
Speaking of Sesame Street, I distinctly remember the weird-assed animations, such as this one here with the rainbow circles, from when I was little. But shit! I don't remember it being something you're obviously supposed to watch while on hallucinogens.
I guess being really little is vaguely like being on hallucinogens. I definitely remember making up and then after a while strongly believing impossible things when I was young enough to be watching Sesame Street, including that there was a ghost cat in our neighborhood. I actually remember both making it up and later seeing it. Both seem equally real as memories.
But seriously, somebody plays with my crappy plastic toys at least three times every single day. I think we underestimate our human need to play with toys as adults, or we try to replace the urge with sex or drugs or Warcraft, which are similar but not the same. "Adults." Whatever.
The inventory guy and I had a pretty awesome scene going on for a while, with about eight or ten lions clustered around a giraffe lying on its side, the lions positioned so that they were looking up as if they'd been disturbed, glaring over in the direction of the customers as if to say "You're next, fatass."
Not many people even noticed that it was there, although the few who commented on it thought it was pretty funny. My boss felt that it was unprofessional looking, though, so the inventory guy took the giraffe and lions to his shady basement lair, where they will remain unprofessionally arranged on a shelf forever.
I kept five of the little guys around, though, and arranged them on top of a little box behind my computer. What's neat, though, is that when they're not in an obviously formal arrangement (such as "lion kill"), the customers like to put them in different positions while I'm not looking.
At least this is my assumption, because the other option, that they are moving around by themselves, is not possible. I'll come around the other side of the desk and the fox will be making out with the lioness, or they'll all be stacked on one another, or they'll all be upside down, or they'll all be walking around the perimeter in single file... it's very strange.
The inventory guy got back from a safari a couple of weeks ago and brought me back the little zebra, which I love. It's actually from Africa and made of wood, but has a certain crappy work ethic about it that I feel makes it fit in perfectly with my shitty plastic menagerie. I find that the arrangements that random customers put my toys into often involve segregating the wooden zebra from the plastic animals.
On a related note, I feel like that Sesame Street "One of these things is not like the other things" skit, while well-intentioned, has caused an entire generation to grow up humming that song in their head when they're sitting around three other people, noticing different traits about themselves that signify they just don't belong.
Maybe I'm projecting. But they changed it! At some point, the lyrics changed from what I remember as kid:
One of these things is not like the other things
One of these things doesn't belong
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
Before I finish this song?
Click to viewto
One of these things is not like the others
Which one is different, do you know?
Tell me, which thing here is not like the others
And I'll tell you if it is so!
I knew it!
Speaking of Sesame Street, I distinctly remember the weird-assed animations, such as this one here with the rainbow circles, from when I was little. But shit! I don't remember it being something you're obviously supposed to watch while on hallucinogens.
I guess being really little is vaguely like being on hallucinogens. I definitely remember making up and then after a while strongly believing impossible things when I was young enough to be watching Sesame Street, including that there was a ghost cat in our neighborhood. I actually remember both making it up and later seeing it. Both seem equally real as memories.
But seriously, somebody plays with my crappy plastic toys at least three times every single day. I think we underestimate our human need to play with toys as adults, or we try to replace the urge with sex or drugs or Warcraft, which are similar but not the same. "Adults." Whatever.