Candy explosion
Long ago I found a gumball machine at a garage sale from a fellow who had tired of refilling it at his business. It's paid for itself and raised money for my library ever since, repainted to not look so utilitarian in the school hallway, a good and faithful companion to the coat-racks. Early last week I found it broken, much to my surprise - a huge crack in the front of the acrylic 'bubble' that holds the candy. These things take serious force to break, someone must have picked up the whole thing, iron stand and all and smacked it into something to do this. Weirdly enough, none of the candy or money was gone, so we figured it wasn't vandalism so much as a prank gone wrong by someone in the youth group or something...
I ordered a new bubble for it, and screwed it in place. No big deal. Filled it back up with candy - Skittles this time...lots of them. When full, this thing holds about 15 lbs, I dumped in about 7 lbs. School was ending and I was in a hurry. I turned away for about five minutes to lock the library door and came back to find someone had decided to open the little door, to fish around for anything loose as kids are wont to do. But instead of a loose piece or two, it was a fountain! The entire contents of that machine were trying to just pour out the little door, like a bezerk jackpot of candy in the hall! Kids getting ready to leave school were electrified, magnetized and instantly drawn to the magical outpouring of sugar and the shrieks of excitement were bouncing off the walls! ACK! All my candy, all my expensive candy pouring out where the locusts were eating it!
I 'stoppered' the flow and stood guard over my faulty machine while helpful moms scrambled around on the floor, some tossing the candy into the trashbin, others figuring the 'five-second rule' on germs and letting their kids eat what they had managed to get. What a scene... bright bits of sugar everywhere, everyone talking at once, the office ladies teasing me about it from down the hall...
Emptied it back out, took it home and found the fault in the alignment of the various parts and a gasket. Brought it back again and put it in place...and didn't have the lock that fits in the top. Still can't find it. What a comedy of errors this is turning into. :-P Skittles, anyone? I have a mixing bowl full of them - and some were from the floor, many have been handled by children and moms. Bleah.
I ordered a new bubble for it, and screwed it in place. No big deal. Filled it back up with candy - Skittles this time...lots of them. When full, this thing holds about 15 lbs, I dumped in about 7 lbs. School was ending and I was in a hurry. I turned away for about five minutes to lock the library door and came back to find someone had decided to open the little door, to fish around for anything loose as kids are wont to do. But instead of a loose piece or two, it was a fountain! The entire contents of that machine were trying to just pour out the little door, like a bezerk jackpot of candy in the hall! Kids getting ready to leave school were electrified, magnetized and instantly drawn to the magical outpouring of sugar and the shrieks of excitement were bouncing off the walls! ACK! All my candy, all my expensive candy pouring out where the locusts were eating it!
I 'stoppered' the flow and stood guard over my faulty machine while helpful moms scrambled around on the floor, some tossing the candy into the trashbin, others figuring the 'five-second rule' on germs and letting their kids eat what they had managed to get. What a scene... bright bits of sugar everywhere, everyone talking at once, the office ladies teasing me about it from down the hall...
Emptied it back out, took it home and found the fault in the alignment of the various parts and a gasket. Brought it back again and put it in place...and didn't have the lock that fits in the top. Still can't find it. What a comedy of errors this is turning into. :-P Skittles, anyone? I have a mixing bowl full of them - and some were from the floor, many have been handled by children and moms. Bleah.