Circus Reflections

Well, we've made a trip down to Atlanta to see the circus. That's one under our belts.

I remember going when I was a kid. Really young. I remember it being dark. And I think we saw the motorcycles-in-the-cage thing. Also, I remember looking at the massive, collector's edition Program when I got home.

When we first got there today, we headed directly to Will Call because we hadn't gotten the tickets in the mail. Laura was worried she had maybe thrown them away by accident. Anyway, on the way to the ticket window, we passed through the PETA demonstration. Received a brochure. I shake my head writing this. I don't know of another group of protestors who I think is a bigger waste of time. They have nothing better to do. The next time a group of animals gathers together to protest their own "mistreatment," give me a shout. Until then, I hold onto the belief that animals don't think. They wouldn't be able to tell you whether they were living a dream life or a life of abuse. As to whether Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus is abusing animals.... I don't think so.

The main thing I took away from the event is that they certainly don't want any lawsuits. The title of the show was, "Zing Zang Zoom!" but the subtitle could be, "AKA, "Don't Try This at Home!" I heard, "Don't Try This at Home!" sung in a cute, harmonized, choreographed manner even more than I did, "Zing Zang Zoom!" I'm trying to imagine the circus back in the day, when my parents were kids. I don't think they would've had all the disclaimers worked into the show like we have it nowadays.

Two funny things happened when we got home. First, I got the mail. Our tickets for the circus were in an envelope. Yes, that's right. The circus we had just attended. Hopefully Ticketmaster is hiring a new mail coordinator as I type. Secondly, the kids were hot to trot and began performing their own circus in our living room. While they jumped off little chairs into a pile of pillows, pretending to be shot out of a cannon, Zoe sang at the top of her lungs: "Don't Try This at Hooooommmmeeee!" I tried to get her to see the irony, but she just gave me a blank stare. I love her innocence.

Ah, the circus. Memories aplenty.