http://www.flickr.com/photos/24144243@N03/2292375773/1976 Ballerina Barbie
Apparently this one is worth $8000 USD
She comes with a ballerina outfit and ballerina shoes and beautiful smooth blond hair.
This one is not mine.
Mine has no clothes, the shoes are in a landfill in Brazil somewhere, she has some seriously jacked up, matted hair that has been cut.
She is in a box somewhere...but not the original box she came in...probably a shoe box.
She is not worth $8000 USD...
She is not "Gently Used."
But she was well loved...and still has half her face and her crown. :)
I have a story to tell today--brought on by a miscellaneous post that a nephew put on his Facebook asking for definitions or other words for "Damage."
His request brought to mind an old sad tale of a childhood mistake that was made long, long ago.
What is damage?
...I will tell you...
Damage =
The face on your Barbie doll when you are 8 years old, and you realize she's really dirty (because you play with her **a lot**--as in every single day), and you take a cotton ball with acetone on it, because you've seen you mom clean off her fingernail polish with it, so it should work, right?
...And you accidentally wipe half of Barbie's face off and now she looks like she's been through a tragic accident.
There is no coming back from this mistake.
The paint is gone. Dissolved in the acetone on that little cotton ball clutched between your fingertips. And as you sit cross legged in the sunshine on the wooden floor in your bedroom, your little mouth is a perfect "O" because you're not really sure exactly what just happened, but you know it is bad.
Yeah...that can equate with "damage."
3 comments:
I loved this post. The perfect time machine wouldn't go back 10 years. It would go back 15 seconds. How many times I wish I could go back and undo damage.
Hi, just came across by the ballerina barbie picture. This picture caught my eye because just over a month or two ago I posted on the same picture on flickr. I cannot believe this doll is worth $8,000. I never had the doll but either my sister did or someone we knew. All that remains is the dress, or her leotard and itself is a little torn. I would say that if only we could go back in time and kick ourselves and say take better care of that barbie but you know she/they all were well played with. My daughter is soon to be 5 and she just spotted the 2010 collector barbie. She's beautiful and if my daughter wanted it, the $40.00 price wouldn't matter if she wanted to play with it (even if in 30 years from now she wanted to kick herself.)
I really love the "damage" story by the 8 year old. That is the best description ever for the word damage.
Just saw your post Rebecca...thank you for your thoughts. :)
I loved my Ballerina Barbie and played with her daily. Little girls generally are looking for a little friend...one that's not in a box...and so they do get used and loved and damaged.
Thanks for the posting and I hope you had very Happy Holidays. :D
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