The magic of a toy
and a little boyWhen I was just a wee little ladI used to think I was too old for toys until five or six years ago when our former copy editor Joleen Oshiro brought me the Happy Hot Dog truck.
full of health and joy
my father homeward came one night
and gave to me a toy
A wonder to behold it was
with many colors bright
and the moment I laid eyes on it
it became my heart's delightShe picked it up at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. It was a battery-powered, yellow truck with a big plastic hot dog on the roof that was ... well, happy. It delighted me to watch the little man with the big mustache sit in the driver's seat ringing a bell as the truck wobbled along on its lopsided purple wheels, playing its hot dog music. Every so often the truck would stop and the little man would call out, "HOT DOG! HOT DOG!" All the while, little hot dogs danced happily in little windows.
I wore out two sets of D batteries playing with the toy in the first week alone. I made everybody who came into my office take it for a spin. I insisted that my office become a tour stop for school kids visiting the newspaper so I could show it off.
I got so carried away that I badgered poor Joleen into having her friend in San Francisco go back to Fisherman's Wharf to check out the possibility of importing Happy Hot Dog trucks to Hawaii. I figured we could make a fortune selling them at the swap meet.
I finally came to my senses, realizing that I already worked 70 hours a week and didn't need to spend my weekends at the swap meet hawking toys.
But I still had special plans for my Happy Hot Dog truck. I vowed that someday I would have a grandchild and that I would present the truck to this lucky youngster.
It took my daughter Treena three years to get around to producing the kid, who would come to be known as my grandson Corwin. It took Corwin two years to grow up to the point that I thought he could fully appreciate the Happy Hot Dog truck that waited atop my file cabinet.
When I decided it was time, I put in new batteries and made sure Corwin was fed, juiced and freshly diapered. His face lit up when I handed him the Happy Hot Dog truck. I flipped the switch and ... nothing. The battery contacts had corroded over the years and it wouldn't run.
Corwin pushed the lifeless truck around the floor for awhile without enthusiasm. I was crushed.
CORWIN was visiting last week and locked himself in my office while I chatted with someone just outside the door. Suddenly, from behind the door I heard the happy hot dog music. I heard the little man call out, "HOT DOG! HOT DOG!" I heard Corwin laughing joyously as he mimicked the call, "HOT DOG! HOT DOG!" Evidently he had dropped the toy and jolted the batteries into alignment.
Life can be tough sometimes, but it's sure worth sticking around for those sweet moments that sneak up on you like magic.
The years have gone by too quickly it seems
I have my own little boy
and yesterday I gave to him
my marvelous little toy
His eyes nearly popped right out of his head
he gave a squeal of glee
neither one of us knows just what it is
but he loves it just like me-- Lyrics from "The Marvelous Toy" by Tom Paxton
David Shapiro is managing editor of the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at editor@starbulletin.com.
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