Aspirations

Aspirations

I’m 40ish and watching TV.

I’m sitting at home and an absurdly beautiful cartoon show called Adventure Time is playing. The story, which I’m sure is interesting, but I don’t know the full setting. I’m watching Finn the Human, who will go years learning from any number of experiences. I don’t see all of him, but I hear he finally puts down one of his favorite things, a sword. He’d changed and didn’t need it anymore, and you rarely see that presented to children. I’m watching him help a large woman called Strong or something. She’s large and somewhat dim or something. She barely speaks etc. Finn takes his friend to his other friend who rules a semi-peaceful nation of candy.

Strong loves candy and is delighted. Peppermint Butler, a small uptight sentient peppermint jujube, is walking around the corner. Strong, seeing a newer candy, picks up a horrified Peppermint Butler as if to eat him. Finn exclaims something very simple and so powerful that I think about it for the rest of my life: “You cannot eat him. He has aspirations.”

Finn the Human, silly show, says a thing that means more to me than any sentence at work ever.