Ghosts of Christmas Past

 

While out shopping on the weekend, I spotted many wise people doing their Christmas shopping early.  This was most evident where people were shopping for their children.  It was plain to see which toys were most popular this season.

When I was young I often got "educational" toys and games as Christmas gifts.  Looking back on it, I really loved them, and that is probably why I gravitate towards stores which sell things like that.  Though there are relatively few of them, I enter them whenever I come across them.  When I was a child there were several of these educational toys that craved.

One Christmas I got a chemistry set.  I had wanted that for quite a long time and was really happy to get it.  Sadly, I didn't do as many of the experiments as I wish I had.  The ones I did turned out well, but weren't as cool as fiction books and TV shows made chemistry sets seem.

Regardless, I entered high school with an appreciation for chemistry that only a few students had.  I carried that appreciation to university and managed to eke out one year of science before switching to my other great passion.  I think a lot of that can be traced to that chemistry set.

As a footnote, I kept that chemistry set for many years--well into adulthood in fact.  I moved it to new locations several times.  Most recently, I was mildly curious enough to see if stores still sold them.  I was disappointed.

Leggo my Lego

Owing to a transit strike and too much time to kill before I could get a ride home I found myself doing something I rarely do.  I did a complete tour of a shopping mall at a leisurely pace.  Normally I am a get in, get what you came for and then get out kind of person. I can't really say I had a great time, but it wasn't a complete waste because I came across the Lego store.

I have always liked Lego, but never really had any.  I had one set when I was a child. but it wasn't a huge "megaset."  I could maybe build a small house or car, as long as colour symmetry wasn't a priority.  If you've read my blog called The Massive Collection and the Mind of a Child you might remember my friend's Playmobil collection.  What I didn't mention was that he also had a very impressive collection of Lego. Impressive because he had enough Lego to build a small village of houses, all tastefully colour coordinated.  I was pretty jealous, but we played with it together often enough that I only have good memories of it.

The Lego store is a pretty amazing place.  I hadn't realized how many products they had.  There were so many cool kits and stuff that I had no idea they made.  For a moment..... actually longer than a moment, I was a kid again.

I spotted that Lego train and made those important financial calculations that all hobbyists have to do.  It is a complicated formula involving the  (fun quotient X the building time X the buddy brag factor )/ (the cost factor + the once finished dust collector factor+ the wasted money factor)

I walked out of the store without a box of shiny new Lego and a healthy respect for the store clerks who patiently dealt with children (including one who listed every kit he owned in alphabetical, then chronological order.)  And although I managed to thwart the temptation, the seed has been planted, the need has been created.  Only time will tell where this will lead.