Did anyone else catch that George Nissen, the inventor of the trampoline died last week? I've always wondered what legacy I'll leave when I'm gone. What was George Nissen's legacy? Well, for starters, eighty years and thousands of kids with head injuries, broken arms and broken legs. E.R. docs and orthopedic surgeons owe so much of their livelihood to Mr. Nissen.
George Nissen's invention has even more meaning in Cole. I mean, what else would Colians put in their ten-by-ten yard other than a ten-foot diameter trampoline? It serves so many purposes: First of all, it just looks bitchin' in your front yard. Second, it keeps the ninos busy for hours in between visits from the paleta cart. But it also gives you something to tie your chihuahua to. Not to mention providing him a little shade when you leave him out in your front yard for 10 hours on a hot summer day.
But the trampoline is most important to Cole in being the precursor to the jumping castle, an integral part of any child's or family's fiesta in Cole. Yes, spring and summer are coming, and it won't be long before the melodic chirping of birds will be accompanied by the pleasing machine-gun cadence of air compressors and blaring, distorted latin music. I can picture the skyline of Cole now, being sporadically and briefly altered this summer by slowly-inflating jumping castles, rising like a phoenix over back fences all across the neighborhood. The only thing better than a jumping castle or a trampoline? Both, of course.
And we truly have one man to thank: George Nissan. God rest in peace.
3 comments:
One word to describe you and your memoirs for criticizing the inventor of the trampoline for the thousands of injuries incurred, provincial.
Do we condemn the many minds credited with the creation of the automobile because of the millions of lives lost? Hardly. What do we do? We make things as safe as possible to keep the idiots from hurting or killing themselves. With trampolines, it begins with proper supervision. Rick
Wow, Rick, "provincial", huh? Good word. You like to keep that thesaurus right next to the computer, don't you?
Never pictured the hot button in this post being the reference to kids getting hurt on trampolines. I have to admit I'm a bit surprised that to you the most controversial thing I've written in this blog is that trampolines can be dangerous.
You're a pretty serious guy, huh? Bet you're a lot of fun at cocktail parties. I thought the satirical tone of this post (or most of my other ones, for that matter) was clear. My mistake.
So, I'll be as clear as I can here. I'M JUST KIDDING.
Jeez.
Sarcasim anyone...anyone??? We spotted our first bouncy house of the season on Sunday. It was actually in the middle of the street. Either end of the street was blocked off.
Last summer our neighbors sandwiched a bouncy house between our house and theirs. I could literally lean out and touch it from our bedroom. The kids were still going strong at 11:30 with no lights on. I'm not sure that qualifies as safe.
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