Check it off the list

I got to do one of those things I've always wanted to do today: blow glass. I went with the sixth grade to AU Explore. It's a day of fun and learning put on by Auburn University's Science department. There are "classes" in river bugs, making silly putty, the science of food, and many others including glass blowing. Now, it sounds a lot cooler than it actually was. I thought it was going to be the more artistic side of glass blowing. Instead, it was the nerdy side of glass blowing. These guys blow glass for use in science labs. You dream up a piece of glass you need for your laboratory (pronounced lah-BOR-a-tor-ee) and these guys make it for you. Still, there was a huge flame and semi molten glass so I, and the kids, were entertained.
There came a time in the demonstration when the head glass-blower asked if any of the teachers wanted to try. I jumped at the opportunity. I put on my shades as he heated up the tube of glass. My first attempt didn't work out so well. The second time, I did much better, blowing a bulb of glass that was around 28 ccs (according to the glass-blower guy.) I was proud of my work. I had done something that always fascinated me and that I had always wanted to do. I expected my artwork to be clipped off the tube and handed to me as a token of my achievement. Nope. He slammed the tube on the rim of an empty trash can, sending my perfectly shaped sphere of blown glass into a million pieces in the trash can. Is that what he thought of my glass blowing skills?

Jerk. I never liked glass blowing anyways.