"Step right up young boy!" Says a festive Carnie to the timid young boy. "Step right up and be prepared to have your eyes titillated, your ears tickled, and your mind mesmerized!"
"What line did I step into", the young boy thinks. Miles of men are lined in a row behind him. Old and young, bloated and hungry. Men give mumbling smirks to each other as they fidget with their hands. A hint of nervousness yet childlike excitement fills their eyes.
It seems the rest of the crowd knows what they are waiting for, while the young boy is left in wonderment. He ponders on if he should step out to avoid the crowd, yet his curiosity is too much for him to leave. And the culture around him too big to resist. He hears a man behind him say "it is a right of passage" and another say "it is a shared experience by all". Other men, older than him yet to boot, are staying and waiting. "So it must be ok", thinks the young boy, if he stays too.
As he nears closer to the tent, he hears cheers and shouts beginning to arise. "How old are you son?", says the door man to the young boy. "9" he answered sheepishly. The door man bends down near the boy, "You think you are ready to see what is behind this tent flap, young lad?" The young boy looks behind him as the other men smirk and smile down at him. He turns to the door man and musters up honesty. "Sir, I don't know what I am waiting for?"
With shrieks of laughter the other grown men behind him bend over in tears. They can not contain their humor. The door man gently turns the young boy to himself and gleams upon him with compassion. "Young boy, today your ignorance is a gift. One these men behind you do not possess. And one I wish I had." The door man looks annoyed at the mockery of the men waiting. He looks back at the boy, "Go, and cherish your youth while you have it. For of all its limitations and frustrations it may have, there is freedom in it that these adults have trouble finding again. There is an innate goodness to their desire, but like brutes they cannot contain it's boundaries. They are undiscerning bugs attracted to any light. They have forgotten the beauty in waiting. The beauty in resisting. And in their lack, they slowly forget beauty all together." The young boy looks at the door man with a mix of confusement yet unfound trust.
The door man stands up and looks down on the boy. "One day not too far away, these tent flaps will be wide open. Then I fear everyone will not just know, but will see. And what you see, cannot be unseen." The boy looks more confused and turns to leave the line. "Young man," the door man calls to the boy as he leaves. "Welcome to the wonderful world of waiting."
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