Only in America?

Heading out for my bike ride at 5:30 this morning, I loaded my bike on the back of my old Cherokee, then picked up the newspaper lying at my feet in the driveway. The headline read: 'Crowds Pack In for 'Transformers' .

What the heck are 'Transformers'? Maybe some kind of new and highly advanced military gear? After all, the Physical Sciences Laboratory at NMSU does operate a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Test Facility near here. Just over the mountain is White Sands Missile Range where the U.S, tests and tests shooting down missiles. Included there is HELSTF, the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility, where even the Israeli government tested shooting down missiles or rockets with a laser. Twenty five miles north the new Spaceport is under construction. So, public demonstrations of new technological marvels are often held.

The headline was intriguing, but the morning bike ride in the desert was more appealing. Don't think riding in sand among cactus... I ride on paved streets and roads. But the cool, dry air of a pre-sunrise summer morning in our desert climate, may be the most appealing climatological experience on the planet.

I put the newspaper in the garage, and backed out of the driveway. The radio was on in the Jeep, and was tuned to a talk show. The host was talking about a new movie he had just seen, called 'Transformers'. Aha! Our newspaper had a headline... a front page, "A" section headline, about a movie, a creation of Hollywood, the world capital of foolishness?

First, the radio host was predicting how much money this thing would make. Over one hundred million this weekend, he guessed. Then he talked about the movie. Explosions? Biggest ever. Did you see 'Armageddon'? that was nothing. 'Transformers I'? That was nothing!

So, people may spend $100 million this weekend to see a bunch of filmed explosions? Well, I may well go see a fireworks display on July 4. But at least it will be free, and I don't have to put up with some incomprehensible story line. Just watch the pretty flash. Hear the big boom.

We complain when asked to pay $3.00 for a gallon of gasoline (which will push our car twenty miles down the highway) but happily pay $2.00 for a 16-oz. bottle of water - that translates to $16.00 a gallon!

Maybe the difference is that we don't have to go see the movie. We don't have to buy the water. It's okay to waste time or money of your own free will. Just don't create a situation where we have to waste it!