Musings from the Middle: She’s No Original

by Cathy Allie

     I have not had an original thought in approximately 15 years. If I was a scientific researcher, this would worry me. But as a busy person who likes to get things done, I am pretty happy that somebody already thought about it and likely posted some of their pretty good ideas for me to use.
     I recently hosted a diaper shower brunch for one of my favorite families ever, one who will soon welcome their second, no doubt fabulous, child.  It was a joyous day that I enjoyed planning and preparing for. Or maybe I should say borrowed ideas for.
     One quick trip to Pinterest gave me the idea to have everybody bring the diapers and wipes, enough to keep that precious baby’s bottom covered and dry for quite a while.
     Pinterest guided me though everything else, too, from what food to serve, to writing funny messages to the parents for early morning changing times right on the diapers. I am no original.
    Sometimes I think I have thought up something brand new, only to have someone tell me they saw it on Tik Tok or a creative blog.
     For example, before there were 5,763 pins about repurposing pallets for furniture, I thought I was really on to something.  After determining pallets from work were just being junked, I asked permission to snag some. 
     With the help of my trusty, albeit somewhat reticent helper husband, we pried away some boards, added others, figured and reconfigured until we had some rough-hewn patio furniture, which I showed off to a friend.
    She was impressed with our work and told me I should check out a blogger who had basically redone her whole home using pallets for everything from wall art to storage cabinets, and who not only had constructed patio furniture, but had also used the pallets to lay a wooden walkway all around her garden.
     Are you kidding me?  I didn’t have an original idea?
     Several other cases in point of my non-original ideas include: combining assortments of odd refrigerator leftovers into tasty dishes, only to find someone served the same thing just last week; Valentine boxes during elementary years for my daughter, only to send her to school and have a classmate have a matching (generally better looking) box; and creative hairstyles when I am growing out my bangs, only to find out I am already a part of an online stylist’s look book. 
      I am in awe of people who just randomly come up with the next new, completely original idea. I want to meet the lady who was looking at a strawberry one day and thought, “I bet a drinking straw would make the perfect tool to remove that center.  Here, Grandma, hold the baby and let me try it.”
    I need to hang out with the genius who created the first bath bomb. I figure she was looking at a laundry detergent pod (in a carefully locked container so her not so bright teenager wouldn’t eat it) and thought, “Dang.  I wish they made these to use to get people clean.  Here, Sheila, hold the Shout wipes, and let me think this through.” 
     Better yet, maybe I want to meet the first hot chocolate bomb maker who was just thought it was too dang hard to add chocolate syrup and sprinkles and marshmallows all separately to the cup.  “Here, Harvey, hold the hot scalded milk while I form a chunk of this stuff.”
    I am sure I would quake with excitement to meet the gal who had the idea of a ponytail hat for women. She was probably on day three hair, was headed out to a happy hour, and grabbed her boyfriend’s ball cap on a whim, only to realize it was the fitted type.
     After trying for a minute to wedge her thick, healthy ponytail under the edge, she needed a better solution.
     “Here, Sandy. Hold my beer. I am gonna’ cut the crap outta Justin’s favorite hat to make room for my ponytail” then dug out a pair of rusty old nail scissors from the bottom of her purse and went to work. Get it, girl!
     I might be a little jealous of the patent holder of sticky notes or of those corrugated sleeves for hot coffee, since about 60 million of each of those are used in a single day, but for the most part, I am a cheerleader for those with bright ideas. “Hooray for you,” I think.  “Now I don’t have to think about it.”
    I do think special ‘props’ should go to people who had the ideas for over the top things like clothing that changes color based on the wearer’s mood and self-driving cars.  I mean those are really big ideas. Not good ideas, but big ones, right?
    And perhaps this is the place to let people know I am currently willing to pay a hefty price to anybody who has a good idea or two about how to communicate with teenage girls or a husband with selective hearing.  I am out of original ideas on those fronts, for sure.