We visited the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at the end of last week—and, to my surprise, I was blown away with what I learned and experienced about our history in space. How much? I started sweating details like wanting to understand how the Apollo Spacecraft, once in space, managed to flip itself around to make sure the lunar landing module was right side up. My answer was provided by a precocious teenage boy, who undoubtedly will run NASA one day. After he explained it all to me, I politely inquired: “So, how old are you?” “15,” he smiled. Ah, the same age as my daughter, who was standing bemusedly to the side.
He then answered my next question before I asked it. “I love space exploration,” he said. “But most kids in my generation are waste cases when it comes to this stuff.”
Oops.
“You mean like her, I think,” I said, implicating Elena.
Shy awkward looks and laughs all around, with them, and with his parents and myself. Then another thank you, and a good luck on his future adventures.
Here’s what I loved about what transpired and what followed.
I loved his informed passion—and that, in the end, he could laugh at himself a bit.
I loved that Elena, rather than criticizing me for instigating such awkwardness, found the whole encounter kind of delightful. “He just criticized my whole generation as waste cases,” she said, laughing. “That was awesome.”
In truth, while she doesn’t have the boy’s space fever, she’s an unapologetic nerd herself.
With a little luck, the future may be in good hands.
Eric Messinger is the editor of New York Family. He can be reached at emessinger@manhattanmedia.com.
