Balloon Man

Tonight I went downtown with a friend and five small children to see the most recent art exhibit. Though I was often yelling at my kids or corralling them back toward the sidewalk instead of the busy streets, we found moments of fun in the random art locations. At one stop, we played the piano for about ten minutes, each taking turns at our renditions of "Chopsticks".

We made our way to an eatery where the adults enjoyed Greek food and the kids ate hotdogs. We joined in a couple hands-on exhibits and then continued on our way. As we walked, we spotted a man making balloon animals. If I hadn't actually seen the animals, I would wonder if he was a less-than-upstanding citizen just watching onlookers. Anyway, the kids saw him and made a beeline toward him. He successfully modeled a sword for my son in moments. Then my daughter requested a cat. He groaned about how hard cats are to make and in the process popped three balloons.

At this point, it was one kid down, four to go. There would be NO moving on. The kids were trying to talk to him, but he looked up at us instead and tried to engage in a conversation about his balloon shortage. We nodded our heads and watched the clock tick as several other kids lined up. He opted for a monkey instead and handed it to her.

He started working on the next balloon when his cell phone, perched properly in his belt holster, rang. He leaned his tattooed arm across his thinned white scoop neck tank and answered it. With several children around him waiting patiently, he had a conversation on the phone which put a halt to his creative endeavors. A few minutes later, he began again on a silly hat balloon.

While modeling, he explained that he had been talking to his "supplier" on the phone (we didn't ask what they were supplying) and how he went through nearly 1,000 balloons this weekend. I didn't feel too bad for the guy since he popped another one in the process. We still had to wait.

My daughter said "I'm glad we got to come down here tonight" and he responded dryly, "Yeah me too. The only thing I want to do after I worked a long day is sit here with you kids and make balloons." I thought it impossible that he could be that sarcastic and yet still muster up the energy to actually make the balloons. Who is making him do it? Is there a balloon mafia boss? Has he shorted his supplier and has to make up for it? Will his presence in a crowd of children really protect him?

He eventually made one for each of our kids. Then he looked up at us and said rudely "Could you at least make a donation?" Incredible.

Most vendors just put a jar out and you know what to do with it. This guy had to practically beg us. I'm sad to say that his ill-constructed figures popped on the walk home. Every single one of them ended up in the trash. However, after this fiasco, the highlight of the evening was when we boarded the city bus and rode a few blocks. My daughter's smile was so big that I temporarily forgot about the balloon man. Maybe he'll be there next time. If so, I'll walk the other way around the block.