If You Knew the Ending, Would You Do It Anyway?
Maybe there’s a good reason for not knowing
God, the 1970’s were a weird and wonderful time for kids. When I was about eight years old, I was gifted a Magic Eight Ball. This was on a random visit to the toy store that was in the same building as the Ethan Allen furniture store — where my mom occasionally window shopped and even less occasionally ordered a chair. Mostly she looked at fabric swatches while my sister and I lost ourselves in the labyrinthian collection of elegantly furnished rooms, complete with shag carpeting and large porcelain statues of Great Danes or Persian cats. Things we would never have in our house.
I have no idea why my mom bought two Magic Eight Balls for me and my sister that day, because she wasn’t one to buy gifts outside of birthdays, Christmas, or Easter. In fact, even though we browsed that same toy store many times over the years, this was the only occasion that I ever remember her buying us anything. I think that maybe it was because we were out shopping with my aunt and cousin, so she was in a festive mood.
Whatever the reason, I was instantly hooked on having the answers to my most pressing questions answered immediately. Would I get an “A” on my spelling test? It is decidedly so. Does Chris really like me? Reply hazy, try again.
