Some Real Hot Air

It started innocently enough. An enormous blow-up jack-‘o-lantern popped up on my next-door neighbor’s lawn. A super-sized inflatable Santa landed on the roof of a local garden center. And then a 12-foot snow globe took up residence on another neighbor’s front yard. But what began as a trickle, quickly became an out-and-out flood, and suddenly my suburb (yours, too, right?) has turned into a grounded Macy’s parade of super-sized holiday inflatables. And thus, another thing-we-just-have-to-buy trend (remember holiday front door banners anyone?) is born.

Before you accuse me of bashing blow-ups, let me say for the record that I have nothing against them; on the contrary, I think they’re fun. And that’s a good thing, too, cause I’m pretty sure this trend is more than just full of hot air. I see a whole calendar year of holiday specific airblown inflatables (oversized red heart-shaped boxes of faux-chocolates in February, prancing gigantic green leprechauns in March, bunnies-on-steroids in April, etc.) coming our way.

But attention manufacturers of yard inflatables: want to really move some merchandise? Come out with blow up lawn decorations for the real seasons of my life. I haven’t bought any gigantic goblins, snowpeople, or 2007 numerals – yet. But the day my local Costco stocks big blow up bottles of Valium suitable for snowed-in-with-nothing-to-do snow days, giant party noisemakers for back-to-school season, or oversized “Caution: Enter at Your Own Risk” signs for that time of the month, I’m caving.

Comments

Only one house on our block has succumbed to the inflatable trend. Thankfully, they turned their yard into a TACKY tawdry eyesore, compelling no one else on the block (including us!) to follow!