SPARK
Circa 1984. Science Museum in Columbus, Ohio.

The Van de Graaf generator is always popular. The little electric ball thing, they have kids come up and touch it, and their hair stands on end.

What they don't tell you until you get up there is you have to keep your feet together. Your entire body acts like an electrical circuit, and if you take your feet apart, you break the circuit. Your hair goes back to normal, the electricity stays in your body, and you suddenly feel as if someone slammed your foot with a sledgehammer.

This I know from experience. This, and the fact that if it all happens while you're wearing a sweater, the electricity stays in your body for a while.

Soon after, I started to feel sick. Just not well at all, and I'm starting to think I just might throw up. It's been about five minutes now since my Van de Graaf incident, and we've started looking at some of the other exhibits.

I reach up to touch a big metal switch on a nearby display, and discharge all that stored electricity in the form of a giant blue spark.

No one sees this happen. But at least I don't feel sick anymore.