Coming back to life
I'm coming back to life! I've been working on a giant video animation project for IntApp and in about a week I'll be returning from my long slumber. But first, a story:
I was in the airport today at SFO, minding my own ipod when a little toddler came to sit and started climbing around on the chair/bench I was sitting. His mom was busy taking stock of all the kid accessories she had along, and like a good mom was not trying to dictate his every action. The little tyke decided he wanted to crawl around underneath the bench, but instead of crawling directly underneath, he decided to try to fit through in between two seats. Which worked out great until it came time to fit his head through. Well, turns out he hadn't thought the plan through that, ahem, far ahead. I was only half-paying attention at this point, as there are many new wonders to discover in the App Store. Well, when this little guy realized it wasn't going to work, he changed course and tried to climb out. Well, turns out Plan B wasn't happening either.
Panic.
Immediately there were worried cries on my right, and mom rushed over to help. I thought I should let her take care of things. But as I said, his head wasn't going to fit through, and his body at this point was wedged and wasn't going to move either.
Have you ever been at that point where you want to help someone out with their kid, but at the same time you don't want to undermine their authority as a parent? If I rush in to help, am I making her feel inadequate as a parent? But if I don't do anything am I a total dick? At least my headphones were off while I sat there caught between actions. Until, "He's stuck. Can you help me?" Permission is everything. But it turns out this was a genuine puzzle.
I'm good at puzzles.
I gently prodded and pushed him a bit to try to get him to come back upward, but as I said his body was wedged. No way he was budging, and now that this bearded stranger was handling him the cries became fervent. Nothing like trying to solve a puzzle under pressure, eh? Mom was there prodding too, but I don't blame the little guy for being irrational and scared in this situation. Beards are scary.
Another passenger, a late 40's Philippino male in polo shirt, came over and asserted that we should lift the bench, leaving the tot in freedom standing on the floor. I ignored his suggestion twice as the cries rose in volume (and heads began to turn in our direction) then finally said, "That won't work." I briefly imagined the result of lifting the bench while the boy's head was stuck above it. Another terrible Plan B.
"We're gonna take off your jacket so you can get out," I said as sweetly as I could to the little kid.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" he said.
Unzipping a jacket on a boy who is underneath the seat you're on isn't easy, especially when chunks of the jacket are jammed between him and the seat. But I did it!
Success at jacket removal, however, did not mean freedom. I can imagine him thinking, Now crazy stranger bearded guy is taking off my jacket? WTF? though it was probably more like the elucidated WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
More prodding, and now with 6 people standing in the immediate vicinity, I felt a surge of panic. This is a solvable puzzle, right? Cuz here I am being the inadequate stranger to help this kid and mom out. Sheesh, I'm supposed to be good at puzzles. Now there's a life at stake. I mean this kid could die right here in this seat! Well, okay, maybe not die."It's okay, kid. We'll get you out. Don't worry," I said soothingly.
So, you know those crazy airport seat bench things? They have like two or three seats adjacent, welded together, then a little tabletop piece like a coffee table and then come more seats, all in a big row that's one long piece of metal. Well, in between each seat there is a little gap, save for the crossbar underneath the butt-sitting part. So this leaves a gap on the front half of the seat, and the back half leading all the way up to the top of the seatback. So this kid was trying to fit into that latter gap and was just big enough that some olympic-sized exhalations could get his body through, but no matter how decorated the medalist that head was not going to fit through even if Lezak was there for the last leg putting on the race of his life. But pushing wasn't the solution.
I told you I'm good at puzzles.
So as the crowd gathered and his mom began to really really get a worried look and the kid began to attempt to deafen everyone within blast range, I grabbed him from behind the seat, lifted him backwards then up so that his neck traced the line of the chairback, avoiding the "through" solution altogether, and handed him to his mom.
Done.
I LOVE kids that bounce back quickly. About 2 minutes later we were playing catch with a cool multicolored, light-up bouncy ball, his panic and my ipod quickly left behind. Now I was his best friend, and even more so once he found out I have Nemo on my watch. In fact, the remaining 20 minutes until boarding was spent examining and re-examining my watch.
"Smarsha maffen jonda Nemo!" said the little kid, smiling, grabbing my hand and pointing.
"Yeah, it's Nemo!" I responded.
This one's for you, kid.
I was in the airport today at SFO, minding my own ipod when a little toddler came to sit and started climbing around on the chair/bench I was sitting. His mom was busy taking stock of all the kid accessories she had along, and like a good mom was not trying to dictate his every action. The little tyke decided he wanted to crawl around underneath the bench, but instead of crawling directly underneath, he decided to try to fit through in between two seats. Which worked out great until it came time to fit his head through. Well, turns out he hadn't thought the plan through that, ahem, far ahead. I was only half-paying attention at this point, as there are many new wonders to discover in the App Store. Well, when this little guy realized it wasn't going to work, he changed course and tried to climb out. Well, turns out Plan B wasn't happening either.
Panic.
Immediately there were worried cries on my right, and mom rushed over to help. I thought I should let her take care of things. But as I said, his head wasn't going to fit through, and his body at this point was wedged and wasn't going to move either.
Have you ever been at that point where you want to help someone out with their kid, but at the same time you don't want to undermine their authority as a parent? If I rush in to help, am I making her feel inadequate as a parent? But if I don't do anything am I a total dick? At least my headphones were off while I sat there caught between actions. Until, "He's stuck. Can you help me?" Permission is everything. But it turns out this was a genuine puzzle.
I'm good at puzzles.
I gently prodded and pushed him a bit to try to get him to come back upward, but as I said his body was wedged. No way he was budging, and now that this bearded stranger was handling him the cries became fervent. Nothing like trying to solve a puzzle under pressure, eh? Mom was there prodding too, but I don't blame the little guy for being irrational and scared in this situation. Beards are scary.
Another passenger, a late 40's Philippino male in polo shirt, came over and asserted that we should lift the bench, leaving the tot in freedom standing on the floor. I ignored his suggestion twice as the cries rose in volume (and heads began to turn in our direction) then finally said, "That won't work." I briefly imagined the result of lifting the bench while the boy's head was stuck above it. Another terrible Plan B.
"We're gonna take off your jacket so you can get out," I said as sweetly as I could to the little kid.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" he said.
Unzipping a jacket on a boy who is underneath the seat you're on isn't easy, especially when chunks of the jacket are jammed between him and the seat. But I did it!
Success at jacket removal, however, did not mean freedom. I can imagine him thinking, Now crazy stranger bearded guy is taking off my jacket? WTF? though it was probably more like the elucidated WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
More prodding, and now with 6 people standing in the immediate vicinity, I felt a surge of panic. This is a solvable puzzle, right? Cuz here I am being the inadequate stranger to help this kid and mom out. Sheesh, I'm supposed to be good at puzzles. Now there's a life at stake. I mean this kid could die right here in this seat! Well, okay, maybe not die."It's okay, kid. We'll get you out. Don't worry," I said soothingly.
So, you know those crazy airport seat bench things? They have like two or three seats adjacent, welded together, then a little tabletop piece like a coffee table and then come more seats, all in a big row that's one long piece of metal. Well, in between each seat there is a little gap, save for the crossbar underneath the butt-sitting part. So this leaves a gap on the front half of the seat, and the back half leading all the way up to the top of the seatback. So this kid was trying to fit into that latter gap and was just big enough that some olympic-sized exhalations could get his body through, but no matter how decorated the medalist that head was not going to fit through even if Lezak was there for the last leg putting on the race of his life. But pushing wasn't the solution.
I told you I'm good at puzzles.
So as the crowd gathered and his mom began to really really get a worried look and the kid began to attempt to deafen everyone within blast range, I grabbed him from behind the seat, lifted him backwards then up so that his neck traced the line of the chairback, avoiding the "through" solution altogether, and handed him to his mom.
Done.
I LOVE kids that bounce back quickly. About 2 minutes later we were playing catch with a cool multicolored, light-up bouncy ball, his panic and my ipod quickly left behind. Now I was his best friend, and even more so once he found out I have Nemo on my watch. In fact, the remaining 20 minutes until boarding was spent examining and re-examining my watch.
"Smarsha maffen jonda Nemo!" said the little kid, smiling, grabbing my hand and pointing.
"Yeah, it's Nemo!" I responded.
This one's for you, kid.
posted by Blake Tucker at 7:30 PM
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