Let the dog in!

When you have a kid, nothing puts a smile on their face (for a good 20-30 seconds, at least) like a helium-filled balloon. Here on Bainbridge Island, we would visit our favorite paper products store on Winslow where they would hand out balloons to kids for free. The bigger my kid has gotten, the smarter. This past summer she saw kids with balloons walking down the street on an ordinary day, and turned to me to ask for a balloon, too. Where did they come from? We followed the trail and found out.

Then, this past week, after a respite from ballooning, we returned to that store, and what did we learn? There is a HELIUM SHORTAGE and NO MORE FREE BALLOONS!! This was troublesome on many levels — the preschooler having a fit, the embarrassed mom in a store full of shoppers (hm, do I have any cash??), but also the question of the helium shortage. Where does helium come from that they are running low? At first I pictured a tank farm somewhere, but no, silly, inside the tank, that stuff. I seem to recall helium on the periodic chart in 7th grade. If it is a natural gas, do we drill for it like other natural gases? Imagine the drilling fields (this, from a Texas kid) for helium….clown-colored platforms, decorated with smiley faces and balloon icons or would there be junior high kids (and my spouse with his friends) on the fringes looking for a little hit to sound like Donald Duck? A shortage? What does this mean for parties across this country? Will birthday halls be filled with sad-looking balloons all on the floor? And for you, holders of helium-filled balloons right now, take care. You have a precious resource. Be Jimmy Carter, and conserve!

[This post can also be found at Bainbridge Breezes.]

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