What do you build with Tinker Toys?
Jon and I arrived at the table filled with TT pieces. He brought his 4-yr-old enthusiasm for random pieces in bright colors. I brought my 50-something enthusiasm for Public Radio. Spotting a wheel, Jon said, "We can make it go!"
I built a tower, inserted a flat plastic disc through a horizontal, red TT stick and said, "On today's show, ladies and gentleman, we'll be talking to Jon Cxxxxx Hxxxxx, whose just returned from an adventure with trains. Good morning JON, what can you tell us?"
"Yeah, I fell off a bench in Kirkwood watching trains."
This interview played out over the course of 45 minutes. The guest on the show waxed eloquently about his many adventures for all things pre-school promises. The story of falling off the bench, complete with the list of injuries led to his sage advise for others who might be game to try standing on a bench and jumping off after the train pulls away. "Don't do it."
My husband arrived late into the broadcast and asked, "Ooooh, what's that?"
"We'ew havin' a wadio sow."
"A radio show! I wonder who thought of that," he said a little too sarcastically, I thought. "I've been building with Tinker Toys for over 50 years and I never once thought of building a radio." And then the engineer sat down and became caller number 7 with a question about trains for the guest on the show.