{"id":81587,"date":"2015-01-14T16:33:30","date_gmt":"2015-01-14T21:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=81587"},"modified":"2015-01-14T16:35:05","modified_gmt":"2015-01-14T21:35:05","slug":"think-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/14\/think-big\/","title":{"rendered":"Think Big"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"1000px-Airport_symbol.svg\"<\/a>

Image via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

We are told it is a liability to be thin-skinned, and it\u2019s true that these are bad times for it. When an Internet slight makes you question your path in life, an encounter with a surly stranger results in canceled plans, and the day\u2019s news derails your day, you are at the whims of fortune. And a life without perspective, like a painting, is disorienting.<\/p>\n

But the porousness goes both ways, doesn\u2019t it? And if everything looms large, the world\u2019s kindnesses are equally outsized, like in that store Think Big<\/a>, which only carried enormous versions of things. Maybe you didn\u2019t<\/em> want a giant jar of mustard. But the fact that it existed meant that you could also have a six-foot\u00a0Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2, so. <\/p>\n

Today I had a truly wonderful airport experience. The trip to the terminal was quick and pleasant. My neighbors and I were routed into the expedited security line and so were able to retain our shoes and sweaters. The Transportation Security Administration officers were jolly and kind, too. And at one moment a woman in a pair of very low-riding jeans bent over, exposing a vast plumber\u2019s crack. Out of her earshot, the TSA man said to me, \u201cFull moon tonight!\u201d as he checked over my ID.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then came all the usual pleasures of an airport: I bought a newspaper and a pack of an intriguing new gum\u2014and the selection was excellent! I slathered myself in samples of Cr\u00e8me de la Mer. The coffee at the Dunkin\u2019 Donuts was strong and hot, and the cruller unusually fresh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But most wonderful of all: when we boarded the plane, it was to find that it was not full to capacity. And as the doors closed, I saw that I was to have a row of three seats to myself. I am not lying when I say that tears of gratitude came to my eyes. It was a pure happiness. I lay down with my head on my tote bag and my coat over my legs and everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow. And I said to myself, over and over, It\u2019s worth it, it\u2019s worth it.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are told it is a liability to be thin-skinned, and it\u2019s true that these are bad times for it. When an Internet slight makes you question your path in life, an encounter with a surly stranger results in canceled plans, and the day\u2019s news derails your day, you are at the whims of fortune. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[16604,218,15225,8606,16609,16608,15712,16607,16605,16606,123],"class_list":["post-81587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-airlines","tag-airplanes","tag-airports","tag-flight","tag-fortune","tag-joy","tag-luck","tag-mood","tag-thin-skinned","tag-think-big","tag-travel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Joys of Being Thin-Skinned<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sure, it means that little things can get to you\u2014but it also means that little things can make you unusually happy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/14\/think-big\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Think Big by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 14, 2015 \u2013 We are told it is a liability to be thin-skinned, and it\u2019s true that these are bad times for it. 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