Think About It. Ceiling or Floor. On their way to the south of France, Audrey Roberts and Stephen D. Brown stopped off for a casual picnic on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower. When his Sage grandfather asked if he saw the new glass floor, Steve defensively denied the perversity of gazing through what he called a glass ceiling. Neither wanting to muddle memories of their coincidental but separate visits thirteen years earlier, they had also chosen not to ascend.
Their visit spurred my memories of a year roaming the neighborhood when the towering structure was only half its present age, having been designed as the tallest on earth for the 1889 World’s Fair. Called by France the Exposition Universelle, the event coincided with the 100th anniversary of storming the Bastille, which ignited the fires of French Revolution. There’s been talk of deconstructing what some critics described as a giant erector set. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo seems to have ignored the much bemoaned glass ceiling inhibiting the success of women and has led Paris in renovation which has included replacing the first floor with glass 180 feet above the ground to create a new thrill for the former modern marvel.
Granted when Steve suggested my writing an essay on the subject of the “glass ceiling”, my first thought was the recent 125th anniversary of the Ball Jar and the sealing wax my mother let me chew. By the way, try typing “glass sealing” and see what spell-checker does. Five years before the Paris World’s Fair, the Ball family from New York settled in Muncie, Indiana where there was plenty of natural gas. That was to fuel the heat to melt the silica (sand?), a product of quartz which is ten percent of the world’s covering. The result was and continues to be glass blowing for the great “Ball Jar” used for prompt canning of fresh fruits, vegetables and meats by frugal folks the world over. Isn’t that nice to know?
Quite a different process is used for a transparent, flat surface, strong enough to convince many who may already have acrophobia. Additional thickness and $40million provided a good view and assurance of a safe visit.
For the City of Lights, said to be losing its luster, the addition has been (Forgive the expression.) a smashing success. With or without new and exciting additions, Paris to me has always been the center of my known universe even though I never did go up the iron lattice structure known in Paris as La tour Eiffel. If something new brings additional visitors to discover the old, that’s fine with me. Wanting only a glass floor, the Grand Canyon Skywalk is closer and probably as safe if you don’t fear retribution from the original owners of the area, the Hualapai Indians who operate it.
Look up or look down. Call it what you like. It’s still glass, Ceiling or Floor. Think About It.