It must have been cool to be the first person to reach the North Pole, even though there is some debate as to who that
was. It would have been cool to get there and even think that you were the first one there. Having gotten there though, and
and having found out that there was nothing there, I wouldn't see any reason to ever go back. Or to be the second person to
go there.
It's not like being the second man on the moon.. Just going to the moon is cool, and will always be cool. Because there's
always a chance that someone will build a city there someday, and you can jump around in micro-gravity and you can see the
whole Earth from there.
But there's nothing at the North Pole, even if you believe in Santa Claus or Superman, and I can't think of any reason
to ever want to go there, since a) there's nothing there, and b) you can never claim to be the first one to do it.
It reminds me that the oldest person alive died this week, and that if you ever get to be the oldest person alive, it
occurs to me, you will always be the oldest person alive until you die. No one will ever pass you, or get to be older than
you. If you get to be Miss America or President of The United States, I'm sure it's awesome, but someone else is going to
come along not too long after you and be the next Miss America or President of The United States. And if you're, say, the
fattest or the tallest, someone could always come along who grows fatter or taller than you. But if there's no one older than
you already, then no one will ever get to be older than you.
What, you may ask, does being the first person to reach the North Pole and the oldest person alive have to do with each
other?
Timing is everything.
