"The Little Inventor" by E. Marie

This piece was inspired by a photograph on the website "Humans of New York". You can find the original image, published on October 7, here: www.humansofnewyork.com The caption reads: "I'm going to be an inventor. I already have some good ideas." "Oh yeah? What are they?" "I had an idea for an electronic cigarette with a whatchamacallit in it that makes mist so you feel like you're smoking but you really aren't. And also, a toothbrush where you put the toothpaste in the bottom and it comes out the top when you're brushing." "Those are some solid ideas. Anything else?" "A fart gun."

Nothing is more inspiring than a young child passionate about helping others. One young child in particular, we’ll call him Sam, wants to be an inventor. In fact, he already has ideas of what it is that he was going to invent; the first thing he mentions is an “electronic cigarette” which would create a “mist”, causing an illusion, the feeling of smoke. The smoker will believe that he’s smoking and getting the relaxing satisfaction that he craves without the downfalls or the feeling of being addicted. We can gather from this that he more than likely has seen the unfortunate results that smoking brings. He has probably seen it through loved ones and it bothers him; each time he sees a cigarette he gets this anxious feeling, it drives him to the point of insanity. He wants nothing more than to make it stop. For this reason, I’m confident saying that the most inspiring ideas come from children. Sam is so innocent and naive, he doesn’t fully have an understanding of the causes and effects of smoking (ie., why people smoke, what it does to the body) but he does know that the end result is not good. His true desire is to help others, not himself. Sam’s innocence truly shines through when he goes on to say that his next idea is a fart gun. This shows that, although he understands the seriousness of smoking, he still thinks like a child would, allowing himself to take a break from reality by fantasizing about a way to torture his older sister on command. For this exact reason, I think that everyone should do themselves a favor by holding onto their inner child. People would be so much happier that way.