When I was a kid in Hong Kong, the toucan-ride-thing was everywhere in parks. Kids would hop onto them and rock back and forth. Sometimes my friends and I competed on who-can-rock-the-closest-to-the-ground. It took effort and skills, and it was a blast!
Many existed: toucan-ride-thing, whale-ride-thing, pig-ride-thing... But the toucan became the icon. Maybe it's their colorful beaks. Or maybe whomever fabricated them gave toucans a massive discount, and every park included them for install.
Years and decades have passed since. Every time I traveled back to Hong Kong, I secretly scanned the parks, looking for the old pal with the colorful beak. But none survived the test of time. What happened? Were there major accidents that prompted the entire city to recall every single one of them? Was it that one day every kid in town decided it was the un-cool thing to hop onto, and the toucan-ride-thing died out of natural selection?
Toucan-ride-thing, thank you for adding color to my childhood. Wherever you are now, you shall be missed.
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