The Aberdeen Blimp Inspired Me to Follow My Dreams

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August Napolitano, A&E Editor

The Aberdeen blimp inspired me to follow my dreams.

Hear me out, okay? I’m a senior here at Bel Air High School. Life, for me at the moment, is kind of out of control. Perhaps “uncontrolled flight” is a good term for it. Every day, I’m bombarded with the same questions.

“Where are you going to college?”

“What are you doing for a living after high school?”

“Why aren’t you saving your money for college?”

My answer, immediately, to every single one of those questions is a prolonged groan followed by a muttered “I don’t know,” and if I’m feeling particularly under pressure, I might shed a couple tears. The truth, I guess, is I do know, kind of — but knowing is what scares me the most. I know exactly what I want to do. I want to go to a preferably small, liberal arts college and major in English and eventually become certified in secondary education and hopefully get to teach English and blah blah blah. But how I get there is still a question. People around me are finishing all of their college applications already and here I am — I haven’t slept properly in months and I’m working in my free time and I have next to nothing done. I exist in Hurricane Joaquin’s Cone of Uncertainty, one may say.

But then I heard about the Aberdeen blimp, er, I mean, aerostat that drifted away. The mysterious security device tethered at APG, the plump Goldfish cracker that watches over our East Coast every day. A multi-billion dollar investment that has become a true symbol of Harford County living, a huge military project that, if proven successful, could be implemented all over the United States — just floated off into the rainy Wednesday sky. The 243-foot long, helium inflated balloon took a four hour flight into Moreland Township, PA, nearly 200 miles away from where it is stationed, knocking out power lines and making national news along the way. Our little Blimpy the Second (First?) Rewriting headlines!

Yes, maybe we shouldn’t make too much light of this situation. This could’ve been a huge disaster. Uncontrolled flight is bad enough for air traffic, and add a dragging steel rope to the equation and you could very well be looking at severe injuries and perhaps even some claimed lives. It’s a situation that’s going to reflect pretty terribly on our military, especially considering, you know, that there was another aerostat stationed specifically to detect SUSPICIOUS FLYING OBJECTS.

But the memes, oh, the memes! From “Bye Felicia” to altered lyrics of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird,” the irony and overall hilarity of the blimp flying off was hard to deny. Yet I still feel like we’re missing the point. Imagine for a second, that you are our little Blimp Buddy. Every day, you’re tethered to the ground, scanning over the mundane life and times of Maryland and the surrounding states. Promised that one day you won’t be alone. Wouldn’t you still feel lost though? Wouldn’t you have the urge to break free from your literal ties and be everything you ever wanted to be?

Of course you would!

It only took minutes before Honeyblimp made history. It started with fellow citizens of Harford County looking up and realizing what happened. Was it stolen? Did it pop? Nobody would’ve guessed we had a Balloon Boy (hold the boy) on our hands. But then people nationwide who may or may not have ever even heard about the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) project was talking about it. Around 30,000 PA residents had to get their power restored after our blimp ravaged their power lines.  Two military helicopters were dispatched to keep under control a cute little baby blimp that seems harmless up in the sky.

And if the Aberdeen Blimp can do it, so can I. So can you! So can all of us! Our local friends were the top trending topic on Twitter yesterday, who says you can’t be?

Untie yourself from whatever oppressing force keeps you grounded. Rise above with your tether still taunting the people below you; don’t hurt them, but make sure they know that you could, because you are strong, and the only fear you know is that which you instill in others. Let everyone know who is really in charge! Don’t think about what others think, because when you touch the clouds, they can only praise you.

The Aberdeen Blimp inspired me to follow my dreams.