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Along Life’s Way
Inflatables
By Lois E. Wilson
There are inflatable representations of people that can be obtained for
various reasons. You see them in parades and protests. A male version
exists to place on your car’s passenger seat so that it does not appear
that you are traveling alone. Unfortunately, it cannot help fill your
car’s gas tank.
Some inflatables are bought for companionship. They could be wired to
give verbal responses—much like Chatty Cathy dolls. But any words they
say are not their own, and they cannot exhibit changing emotions.
Recently there have been cases of children and adults riding on large
inflatable animals, such as swans, which have drifted into the middle
of lakes or out into the ocean. Those on the floats had no way to steer
them; they had to be rescued.
At children’s parties, inflatable games and structures have blown away.
A child was inside one when it was lofted into the air by a strong
wind. It is obvious that inflatables have no direction, education,
secure foundation, or will of their own.
In newspapers or on TV news reports, you discover people who have these
same deficiencies. They are often in the entertainment, sports, or
political realms. They puff themselves up by creating personal stories
of danger, events, issues, and activities. They appear to have a
directly connected air intake valve as they rush to the nearest
microphone or reporter to aggrandize themselves.
These human inflatables are their own PR agents. Their goals seem to be
power and control, and the likely cost to others is reality.
Inflatables are not what one wants for a life jacket. They have little
rebound buoyancy that comes from within or true desire to rescue
another in peril. Once their messages and actions become old, they
begin to leak. Valves may open or their exteriors are punctured and
their bubbles burst. All their hot air and gases quickly disappear into
space. Nothing is left but collapsed, empty shells.
Observers ask themselves: “What were these inflatables all about? Do we
toss their remains into the recycle bin? Or believing that they had
little of worth to say or offer, do we resolve never to play a part in
their inflation again?” That is often the only time we have a choice in
the matter.
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