Dreams Crumbling Away

(My sister, brother-in-law, and I are driving home at night.)

Me: “When I walked into your house this morning, the TV caught my eye.”

Brother-In-Law: “What was on?”

Me: “Sesame Street. Cookie Monster wanted to get in to the Cookie Connoisseur Club.”

Brother-In-Law: “Oh, and he wasn’t following the rules; he got kicked out!”

Me: “Yeah. I felt so sad for him. He finally found a place where people understand him, but they wouldn’t let him stay.”

Brother-In-Law: “He couldn’t follow the rules. Rules are important in places like that.”

Me: “I know; it was just sad. He finally found the one place he’d been looking for his whole life, and they couldn’t even accept him.”

Brother-In-Law: “It’s not like the rules were that hard to follow. He wasn’t asked to run a marathon and climb a mountain before eating the cookies. He just had to look, sniff, and taste. If those rules were too hard, then maybe he didn’t belong there.”

Me: “Well, that just makes things even more sad. He thought he found where he belonged; it turned out he didn’t fit in there either.”

Sister: “Do you guys realize that you’re having a serious conversation about Cookie Monster. A puppet on a children’s show?”

Me: “He just wanted to eat cookies with people who understand him! Isn’t that what we all want?”