Kids Say The Darndest Things

Do you remember that show? The one where Bill Cosby asks kids some random question, like "What do you want to be when you grow up, and they'd answer with some weird, unexpected answer that I guess is what was called a "Darndest Thing". Like the one where he asks this little girl why she likes this particular boy at school, and she answers, "Because he chases me around a lot!" Some of the most hilarious lines are born not from a polished comedy routine but from the hapless innocence of children.

The show was originally born from a feature on the show of an older comedian Art Linkletter's show know as Art Linkletter's House Party, which had the same name. Art would ask similar questions to the kids and receive similar responses. I was watching a rerun of the show tonight, in which the brought some kids who had appeared on House Party on to the show, and showed them videos of themselves as children some 30 years ago. One girl had said that she wanted to be a secretary because secretaries get to sit on their boss' lap. Looking back on it now I'm pretty sure that she was shocked at what she said. But after viewing the video, she said something that I thought was pretty cool. She said that being on the show was probably one of the highlights of her young life and that when she spoke to Art, she felt as if he was really interested in what she had to say.

They then brought Art on stage where he greeted them all. Then Bill Cosby asked him to turn to the audience. "Art," he said, "What would you say if I told you that everyone in this audience, when they were kids, were on your show?" And with that, the entire audience rose up and went up on stage to greet him. The shock and joy on Art's old wrinkled face was clearly seen as he was hugged and kissed by many. He wasn't there because he had accomplished some great feat, or proved himself with some great skill. He was there because he had encouraged them to say the craziest, weirdest and..well, darndest of things. And that is something that I'm pretty sure they'll carry with them for the rest of their lives.

In our world today, there's a rush to be the best. The best mannered, the most talented, most eloquent of speech. If you're going to be an artist, you need to have the epic musical skills ever. Singing along with a synthesizer won't do. If you're a writer, you must use the biggest words and have to most manicured English. Anything else is for kids. That shouldn't be. You don't have to be the biggest or the best to be awesome. You just have to be you. Art changed a lot of lives by bringing out the darndest side of many people. Sometimes, all you need to be awesome is just that. Just let yourself, go and be the darndest you can be. You'll change a lot of lives that way.