But then I realized that when he won, he was playing to trade in his tickets for the crappy plastic toys.
The prize was much more exciting than the game to get it.
But all of these aspects were shaded by the little 10-cent plastic men with sticky stretchy blue arms that adhere to the walls.
That — that was the prize.
In a child’s nature, we see many of our own innate tendencies.
I saw myself in him and perhaps you do, too.
Prizes serve as false idols everywhere, prestige, wealth, fame, power.
You’ll be exposed to many of these, if not all.
Of course, part of why I was invited to come to speak today beyond my being a proud alumna is that I’ve recruited some very coveted toys in my life, including a not so plastic, not so crappy one: an Oscar.
So we bump up against a common trope I think of the commencement address people who have achieved a lot telling you that the fruits of the achievement are not always to be trusted.