noun
Although intended to delight, its volatile temperament almost always leads to disappointment.
If you want to see a child’s face light up with glee, great. Go ahead. Give them that balloon. But understand the inevitable suffering you’re handing over to their parents. Those parents are trying to have a nice day, perhaps buying some shoes where the store owners try to curry favor with a younger generation. Clearly they are not set up in these moments to discuss impermanence and fragility of life. Likely, the elation the child experiences from being gifted a balloon results in them opening their hands in joy and, oops, the balloon is freed — released into a world where it will be helpless. Sometimes a balloon meets its end more violently upon getting stabbed by a fork at dinner, creating a god-awful sound signaling its immediate demise. Or, best case scenario — it slowly deflates of natural causes over the course of several days, but there is little aesthetic joy in housing a wilting balloon until it has been restored to its two-dimensional state.
It’s fun to guess what birthday is being celebrated when a new year is heralded by giant helium balloons of multiple digits. One can make educated guesses. A 0 and a 5 is unlikely to be someone’s 5th birthday. Milestones are also a hint. A 6 balloon and a 1 — undoubtedly a sweet 16, unless those balloons are black in an over-the-hill symbolism, in which case, it’s a toss-up? If I were a 1-year old, I would attempt to cash in on more recognition and presents with three balloons: 001.
I never liked the 1956 classic movie The Red Balloon.