In the classic Lucasarts computer game, Sam and Max Hit the Road, one of the locations you visit is the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, a landmark of epic proportions maintained by a telekentic repair man with Tourette’s syndrome. Like I said, classic game.

These kinds of tourist traps dot landscapes all over the world and for good reason. I’ve seen everything from the World’s Largest Thermometer in Illinois, which stood 750-feet high, to the World’s Smallest Cactus in Arizona, measuring about two inches in height. The curators of these “fantastic sights” are always, and I repeat always overly estactic, pointing out features of these landmarks with a sprinkle of fascination and wonderment in their voices.

I’ve often wondered if some of these individuals have ever experienced the world outside of their hometowns or local tourist attractions. Granted, it’s somewhat impressive to see the World’s Largest Donut, but I think it’s much more majestic standing before the Great Wall of China or The Great Pyramid of Giza. Something I hope to experience some day, when the financial gods allow such an excursion.

When you think about it, in your lifetime you’ll never be able to read every novel or watch every film created. Likewise, you’ll only hear certain sounds, breath in various smells, experience certain tastes and sights and most important of all, touch certain things, be they inanimate objects, loved ones or something as simple as an Oak table.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 16th, 2004 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.