Dominos

     For the annual science fair, us 8th graders are allowed to do a Rube Goldberg. In case you didn't know, Rube Goldbergs are machines that react from a reaction, like dominos. To learn more visit this link. I am participating in this creative madness and building my own. You can use anything really, but it is quite exciting to use everyday objects and see what you can manipulate them to do. 

       For example, sending a marble down egg cartons which knocks down dominos which hits a glass of water which......you get the point. There are endless combinations, really, all you have to do is think.

      Maybe the most fun thing about Rube Goldbergs are that they require a lot of thought and imagination. Surfing the web for ideas only gets you so far. If you really want this machine to be uniquely your won masterpiece, you have to use your noggin'. Your thought process when making a Rube Goldberg is mostly guess and check. This system of guess and check can be made into a metaphor (like most things.)

         For me, Rube Goldbergs represent how simple it is to make a difference. By pusing the one domino, a who chain reaction starts. If I smile at one person, they may pass on the smile in the form of a compliment and so on. The poem below is a great example of "smile dominos."

She smiled at a sorrowful stranger.

The smile seemed to make him feel better.

He remembered past kindnesses of a friend

and wrote him a thank-you letter.

The friend was so pleased with the thank-you

that he left a large tip after lunch.

The waitress, surprised by the size of the tip,

bet the whole thing on a hunch.

The next day she picked up her winnings,

and gave part to a man on the street.

The man on the street was grateful;

for two days he’d had nothing to eat.

After he finished his dinner,

he left for his small dingy room.

(He didn’t know at the moment

that he might be facing his doom.)

On the way he picked up a shivering puppy

and took him home to get warm.

The puppy was very grateful

to be in out of the storm.

That night the house caught on fire.

The puppy barked the alarm.

He barked ’til he woke the whole household

and saved everybody from harm.

One of the boys that he rescued

grew up to be President.

All this because of a simple smile

that hadn’t cost a cent.

Barbara Hauck, (age 13)

So, the lesson to be learned about Rube Goldbergs is that simply an act of kindess goes a long way. Who knows, that strager that just complimented your shoes might have resulted because you smiled at that person without a home.