I Was Part of the Balloon Problem Too

Who knew that something as innocent as letting go of bunches of balloons on my wedding day would haunt me 37 years later?

I know I’ve been on this environmental kick lately, but I walk every morning and see a lot of trash. It makes me crazy…correction, crazier, to see all the crap people toss out the car window or just drop without thinking about it. So, this blog is about balloon regret and then I promise I’ll shut up…for a while.

I always loved balloons, so much so that I thought it would be cool to let a bunch go on my wedding day signifying hope drifting up to the heavens. It blew like crazy that day and my poor nephew balloon wranglers had a heck of a time not being lifted off the ground by my balloons. It was a lovely, hopeful sentiment, but those balloons, much like my marriage, soared for a while then slowly dropped to earth and made a mess of things.

I’m long over beating myself up over the marriage, but the balloons still haunt me. I was walking with my friend, Howie, in gorgeous Cape May over the weekend and we came across a bunch of someone’s congratulatory balloons floating along the shore of the bay. That’s what happens. People buy balloons at Dollar Tree because they’re cheap, then either let them go by accident, let them go on purpose, or keep them until they droop and then toss them in the trash creating more plastic waste.

They’re fun for a day or maybe a week, then the recipient gets sick of them, and tosses them. There must be other things we could buy for our friends to celebrate…like their favorite flowers, food, drink, tickets to an event, lottery tickets, a hand-drawn picture, a free night of babysitting, or a cool hat.

When balloons come down, crabby old ladies stop to pick them up then complain about them in blogs, animals mistake them for food, eat them and die. Or they become tangled in the strings. (Warning, icky pictures ahead.) Here is a link to a few gruesome pictures from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showing why letting go of balloons is a bad idea.

So, I’m resolving to never buy them, or let them go again…even on the remote chance that I ever do re-marry. I think that will necessitate a fireworks display.

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