Luck in the Time of Peeps

It was frustrating.

I had set aside my copy of the Peeps Awards–The Washington Post’s reader challenge to make the best darned marshmallow Peeps diorama ever. This year, they were even celebrating the “decade of champions.” But when recycling day rolled around and after I’d spent a weekend away, the Peeps were nowhere to be seen.

I looked for them them among the week’s junk mail, shiny catalogs, and other paper refuse as I shifted it from mail basket to recycling bin, but no yellow bunny.

I thought I had a pretty good durable human design by using an old Radio Flyer wagon to carry our two recycling bins. I usually stand in front and use my body as a brake to keep the wagon from picking up speed as I roll it down our steep driveway. But this time the bins were especially loaded down with magazines, so I stepped next to the wagon and tried to use the handle as a brake. After only one step, the wagon pitched over, raining down the contents of both bins.

Resignedly, I re-collected the refuse, chalking it up to poor physics calculations. But about halfway through the cleanup, there it was: the Peeps issue, face-up on the driveway.

Sometimes, misfortune really isn’t.

You can see the Peeps Show for yourself here, no wagon required.

[caption id=”attachment_4301" align=”aligncenter” width=”300"]

Photo by the manufacturer, Peepsandcompany.com[/caption]

Learn more about durable human design–and being more durable, in general–in the new book How To Be a Durable Human: Revive and Thrive in the Digital World Through the Power of Self-Design that you can order right here.

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