Sunday Night With John: RIP Bumblebee (For Now)
/We can lose connection with the wonderment we carry with us in our youth. The wonderful notion that anything can be accomplished if we just put forth effort, use a little creativity, and use lots of duct tape. It has to be close to ten years ago when I walked into work and laid my eyes on a kid wearing a full suit of armor made out of cardboard complete with giant sword and sheath. Before I left to run a work errand, he asked for more cardboard out of the recycling, and some scissors, and tape. He promised it would keep him out of trouble. My laughter filled the office hallways as other workers came to see what I thought was so funny.
I was inspired by this teenager’s ability to envision a suit of armor out of a piece of cardboard. If he could do that, what could I create with cardboard? But more importantly, what did I want to create out of cardboard? I always loved the transformer cartoons growing up, and Bumblebee was my favorite character. I took a cue from my client and stocked up on recycled cardboard from work and began to work out my costume. I had two guiding factors: One, it had to look like Bumblebee and it had to actually transform into car mode. Three weeks of me cutting, trial and error, spray painting, and lots of yellow and black duct tape later, Bumblebee 1.0 was born.
I wore it everywhere. To work to show it to the kid who inspired it’s creation, to the annual company dinner (the flyer said it was causal dress,) in Columbus, OH for Halloween with my brother, the next night at my brother’s wedding reception (with my sister-in-law’s approval), and about three times out to a bar to sing karaoke. My Bumblebee costume created conversations, laughter and a lot of questions. One time I spent 30 minutes talking with an architect from California. He wanted the specs so he could make one to impress his buddies at his firm. The first model was not meant to last as the cardboard began to break down and Bumblebee 1.0 was put to rest.
2.0 Bumblebee came into being because of a talk. I was presenting the keynote at a grief symposium and the target audience was children. I felt using a transformer costume would improve my ability to connect with the kids. I pitched the idea to the company’s president and she endorsed it. I got to work making Bumblebee 2.0, but this time with dowel rods, foam, string, and lots of yellow and black duct tape. Bumblebee 1.0 was heavy and hot. I wanted to be able to move, dance, shake, and wear the improved model longer. I finished with about three days to go before my keynote. The talk was a success and the kids giggled as they tried on the costume following my talk.
Bumblebee 2.0 has seen it’s fair share of places, from another Halloween, and couple more karaoke bars, and it’s final voyage to the company picnic to be the answer to the double jeopardy questions. It too had created laughter, conversations, and questions. As co-workers asked me where I bought it and I loved seeing the reaction when I told them I built it.
Don’t forget to re-engage with your youthful wonderment. Remember when you used to look at couch cushions and see a fort? Or look at a tree and see a house, or at a wall and see a canvas to be painted? These are visions of the world we should never lose. The imagining of what could be, or imagining and acting on what could create fun. Creating Bumblebee and wearing it around always reminds me that we can stay young if we try. Bumblebee 2.0 has some battle damage that is not repairable and some design flaws I need to improve on. It will be laid to rest later today. It may be dorky to say I will miss having it around but I can thank both models for all the laughter, for keeping me youthful, and providing me with so much fun. RIP Bumble Bee (for now) you did your job well.
Will there be a Bumblebee 3.0? I think we all know the answer to that question.