When I was a kid, Smurfs were smurfing awesome! I bring it up now because, of course the 2nd modern movie is now out in theaters, but I thought I would share a short story about how my run-in with Gargamel's daughter.
In the third grade, when I could name 32 of the 50 original smurfs, there was a girl in my class who had an uncle who worked at the "Smurf Factory." Because her uncle was "so totally awesome," she spent 2 weeks walking around the playground at recess with a spiral bound, college ruled notebook, taking orders for Smurf figurines. She was selling them for 50 cents a piece, OR for 5 bucks, you could get as many as you could name. I could name 32.
Now remember, the world wide web didn't exist at this point, and you had to be part of a University or IBM to have access to the internet, so coming up with 32 Smurfs meant serious dedication to Saturday morning cartoons. I watched her write down each smurf name underneath my own name and then she put "Owes $5.00" next to it. Shoot, where was I going to get the money?
I asked my parents, but they had too many questions about the whole thing. Not wanting to break my piggy bank, I spent about a half hour shaking 3 dollars and change out of it, then another hour convincing my younger sister that I would give her 5 of my figurines if she let me shake the rest of the money out of her piggy bank. I put all the change (mostly pennies) in a ziplock bag and brought them into school the next day (one day before the end of "the sale"). It was the day before winter break, and I fantasized about what I would do with this belated Christmas gift as I watched this girl (I don't remember her name) stuffing bills and bags of change from half the kids in my class into her Super Friends lunchbox.
That was the last time I saw that girl. She never came back from break and someone said her family had been planning on moving to California for the better part of the year. "WTS!?! (What The Smurf!?!) I was so sure that the combination of my superior knowledge of pop culture, mixed with my financial resourcefulness and a touch of being in the right place at the right time, was about to deliver the payload of miniature blue awesomeness. Instead, I was left with an empty piggy bank and a distrust of girls with spiral notebooks.
And, as for the new movie, I don't think I can bear to see it. We were in Mexico when the first one came out 2 years ago, so it was tempting to see them as "Los Pitufos," but alas, it is just too painful. You win, Gargamel's Daughter. You smurfing win.
In the third grade, when I could name 32 of the 50 original smurfs, there was a girl in my class who had an uncle who worked at the "Smurf Factory." Because her uncle was "so totally awesome," she spent 2 weeks walking around the playground at recess with a spiral bound, college ruled notebook, taking orders for Smurf figurines. She was selling them for 50 cents a piece, OR for 5 bucks, you could get as many as you could name. I could name 32.
Now remember, the world wide web didn't exist at this point, and you had to be part of a University or IBM to have access to the internet, so coming up with 32 Smurfs meant serious dedication to Saturday morning cartoons. I watched her write down each smurf name underneath my own name and then she put "Owes $5.00" next to it. Shoot, where was I going to get the money?
I asked my parents, but they had too many questions about the whole thing. Not wanting to break my piggy bank, I spent about a half hour shaking 3 dollars and change out of it, then another hour convincing my younger sister that I would give her 5 of my figurines if she let me shake the rest of the money out of her piggy bank. I put all the change (mostly pennies) in a ziplock bag and brought them into school the next day (one day before the end of "the sale"). It was the day before winter break, and I fantasized about what I would do with this belated Christmas gift as I watched this girl (I don't remember her name) stuffing bills and bags of change from half the kids in my class into her Super Friends lunchbox.
That was the last time I saw that girl. She never came back from break and someone said her family had been planning on moving to California for the better part of the year. "WTS!?! (What The Smurf!?!) I was so sure that the combination of my superior knowledge of pop culture, mixed with my financial resourcefulness and a touch of being in the right place at the right time, was about to deliver the payload of miniature blue awesomeness. Instead, I was left with an empty piggy bank and a distrust of girls with spiral notebooks.
And, as for the new movie, I don't think I can bear to see it. We were in Mexico when the first one came out 2 years ago, so it was tempting to see them as "Los Pitufos," but alas, it is just too painful. You win, Gargamel's Daughter. You smurfing win.
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