The Silly Side of Stupid

When we were young we did things that were so stupid they were silly. As teenagers, especially, we thrived on absurdity. We did dumb things for the sole purpose of laughing at our own immaturity. But now we’re adults. We’ve exchanged our stupidity for reason. We do things because they’re logical and calculated. Our days are much too busy, our time is much too valuable, our lives are far too important…..for the most part.

Every once in a while we throw off the bonds of adulthood and allow our inner youth to rule. Yes, even adults do things that are so stupid they’re silly.

My friend Kristen told me a story today that serves as a perfect example. Keep in mind that Kristen is a fully grown adult woman in her early 30s, well-mannered, composed, and refined. On most days, and to the untrained eye, she is the perfect picture of maturity. She’s the type of woman that every mother hopes their daughter will grow into. She just returned from a vacation with her family in Key West and was describing her trip to me in detail when she delved into this story: Her father rented a “bicycle built for two” so one day Kristen and her sister Kendra (also a grown woman) decided they’d take the tandem for a ride. Kristen and Kendra were swaying and swerving all over the streets, collecting sideways glances as they went. At one point Kristen lost her shoe and began screaming at Kendra, who was so focused on steering the foot-powered machine that she’d failed to notice her sister’s fallen footwear. From what Kristen said, they even attracted more than a couple shouts from the sidewalk crowd, including one comment from a local street performer who couldn’t help but notice their spectacle.

This story made me laugh for two reasons. First, because I know Kristen so well and it’s hilarious to think of her in such an out-of-control situation and second, because I once found myself in a very similar situation with my own little sister, Joanie. Soon after I first moved to San Diego to attend college my sister came down for a weekend to visit. Wanting to show her the sights, I took her to Coronado island and we rented a tandem bicycle to ride around and enjoy the beautiful bay atmosphere. Let me tell you, riding a tandem isn’t as easy as it looks. The hem of Joanie’s pants kept getting caught in the chain of the bicycle (that was in the early 2000s when very wide flare legs were fashionable). It seemed that after every rotation of the wheels the chain would come loose and we would have to dismount the bike, again and again and again. Being stubborn and stupid, we refused several offers from sympathetic passerbys who offered to help, until our two-hour rental time elapsed and we became desperate to return the contraption and get our deposit money back. We did eventually accept a kind gentleman’s assistance and laughed at ourselves all the way home. Even now, after Kristen’s story brought the memory back to life, I find the visual image of two grown women tearing up the streets on a tandem bicycle completely absurd.

I had that visual image of a tandem bicycle in the back of my mind this afternoon while I was dodging tricycles.

My mom and my sister and I took Josie, Jamie, Johnny, and my sister’s kids, Angie and Connor, to a little local 4^th of July parade. It was like no other parade I’d ever seen. Hundreds of local parents had dressed their kids in patriotic attire and adorned their strollers, wagons, and bicycles in all sorts of red, white, and blue decorations.

 Then this huge crowd of parents and children walked down the main street of a quiet residential neighborhood. There were no floats, no fire trucks, no bands. There wasn’t even a crowd to watch the so called “parade.” It was completely ridiculous! Just a bunch of people in matching clothes walking down a street, bumping into each other and tripping over one another, for no apparent good reason. By far, the stupidest thing I’ve done in a long time. I came home with blisters on both my feet and a back ache from carrying the boys on top of my shoulders block after block and Josie ended up with a scraped hand and bruised knees from tripping along the route and in the end it was all for nothing. It wasn’t a learning experience for the kids and by no means was it a particularly fun activity for the adults. But it was silly. I giggled as I marched down that street at how completely absurd we all were.

Today I did something that was so stupid it was silly. “Silly” hasn’t been a word I could use to describe myself in a very long time but boy, does it feel good. No matter how grown up and refined we are, no matter how busy and important we think our lives are, we have to keep in mind that its okay to take time to be stupid. I hope that every mature adult out there uses this reminder to live a little on the silly side of stupid.

If you can’t find a local parade to march in, then I highly recommend renting a tandem bicycle.