Sandcastles and Snowmen

This is a blog about respect.

Basically I was thinking about this for a while, when we're on the beach, we see an abandoned sandcastle and (after checking that no one is around to claim it) we give it a little kick and destroy the tiny fortress. But if you walk down the street and come across a lonely looking snowman you wouldn't dream of pushing it into the gutter. Is it because it's wearing clothing? Maybe because it has a face? Why do we treat the cold creation differently from the shaped pile of sand?

I guess it has to do with the fact that there are always people around the snowman, he's standing in a crowd of protection, just waiting for his natural demise. The sandcastle however is often left alone, and therefore it's fair game! It's kinda fun to destroy a castle - lets face it, we're not exactly Norman conquerors these days, it's as close to invading a castle as we'll ever get! So I guess it's got nothing to do with the fact that in reality a sandcastle is made by a child, as snowmen are the same, perhaps at the beach we feel like we're on holiday so can get away with being obnoxious (just like if we go to a non-English speaking country and we shout at the locals) but if we're in the town we're in business mode?

Or maybe, we just prefer snowmen! Who knows. But yeah, equal rights for sandcastle protection!

So anyway, I started to think about this after reading the word "snowman" in David Levithan's new novel Love Is The Higher law, it's about 9/11 and coping afterwards, not in a "woe is me" but in a "9/11 happens in the background, here's the story of someone not involved". I'd advise everyone to read his novels, they're guaranteed feel good stories. So yep, thats the reason behind my snowman/sandcastle logic, it's a good thought though isn't it! Bet you went "yeah that's true, it's because they've got faces" when you first read it.

And as I'm talking about respect, I'd like to point out that when I say Snowman, I really mean "snowperson". Equality to all!

Love to all, hate to some, bucket and spade for me. xx