The Stuff Paradox

Last Thanksgiving, we were all sitting around the dining table ready to gorge ourselves.  But first, we took part in our family tradition of telling each other what we were thankful for.  This time, my family generously decided that we would go tallest to shortest, so I could go first.  (The previous year we went most hair to least hair.)

Deadwood: Okay, let's see...I am thankful for family and health.  Rooty?

Rooty: I am thankful for family and friends.  Your turn, Fern.

Fern: Those are good.  Plus, I am thankful for shelter and food.

Rooty: How about you, Sprout?  What are you thankful for?

Sprout: White blood cells.

Not Knowing

When Sprout was a toddler, he loved magic tricks.  Simple tricks like pulling a coin out of his ear or making something disappear.  His jaw would drop, his eyes would get huge and he would scream, "How you do dat!!!?  How you do dat!!!?"

For years and years, he asked me to do tricks over and over again.  He never tired of them.  He thought I was truly amazing.  Then when he was about six years old, I screwed up a disappearing penny trick and he saw that I put the cap on the bottom of the box instead of the top.  Instantly, he figured out how the trick worked.

He has never asked me to do a magic trick since.  Knowledge completely ruined the magic, the mystery and the wonder of it all.