It Broke

You know how there are some things that you keep around because you just like them. Everyone else gives you that one eye half-closed, head cocked, "Hmmm" look but you happily keep that item because you want to. The cup to the left is one of those things.

We got it at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center Imagination Pavilion. This was back in 1990 and was our very first visit to the the "mouse house". At the time, Michael Jackson's Captain EO was there (It still is.) and there was a ride that featured a professor and this little dragon named "Figment". It appears this is still a part of the attraction. I remember nothing of the ride but I adored the dragon and the idea that he was a "figment of imagination". I guess, as a long-time Dungeons and Dragons gamer, a dragon representing imagination struck a cord with me.

As with every attraction at WDW, you get dumped out into a gift shop. I really hadn't seen anything up to this point that I wanted to take home with me. Suddenly, to be surrounded by little purple dragon everything, I wanted things. One of the things I got was this plastic glass.

You know these. They have liquid sandwiched between two layers. In the liquid, float these plastic items, in this case, Figment's head. You can make the heads move around the glass by rotating it. I have one with Marvin Martian.

This glass has served me in good stead. The water between the two layers has long been evaporated although I could still, if I so wanted to, make the heads move around the glass by rotating it. I think it's a squat 8 ounces which made it a go to glass for beverages. I noticed in the last couple of months, however, that dishwater and soap bubbles would seep into that inner cavity when I washed it. I couldn't find a broken seam and the water and bubbles would drip out of the unknown breach so I really didn't give it much thought. On Sunday, however, that changed.

I'd used it Saturday night, filled with Dr Pepper, so it  needed a washing on Sunday. Drop it into the dishwater and let it soak. When I picked it up, the two pieces separated and there was an obvious vertical crack on the interior liner. I fished out the heads that had fallen into the dishwater and looked at the pieces in my hands. I could "fix" this. I could just glue the two pieces back together and stick the glass in my secretary, where I keep mementos. But I hesitated.

What did this represent to me? It represented a time when a big vacation like this was something we spent two years saving for. We had a wonderful time, yes, to use their advertising, a magical time. Carole and I have gone twice since this trip. I enjoyed myself both those times, as well, although I didn't come back with the same amount of souvenirs. But was it necessary to save a plastic cup which really only meant something to me? No, not really. I tossed it.

It's not like I don't have other things to remind me of Figment. I have this stuffed animal in my home office. It reminds me to harness that figment of imagination, that spark, which I have and which brings me pleasure to use. I dust off the dragon every so often and smile at the memory of bringing him home.

Lastly, remember the blog post with Carole and I at Coco Beach and that neon shirt I was wearing? That shirt has Figment's face on it. In addition to it being loud in color, it has dragon heads on it, stylized dragon heads, but dragon heads nonetheless.

So the cup has finally broken beyond repair. I've still got my dragon.

Beverage:  Edinburgh's Finest tea

Deb