Do you know what Flat Stanley is all about? Don't worry if you don't, you aren't necessarily the right age demographic. I'll summarize quickly for you. Flat Stanley is a childrens story about a boy who was completely flattened by a falling bookshelf. Now, whenever his family needs to send him somewhere, instead of paying for costly airline tickets and awkward TSA patdowns they simply fold him up, throw him in an envelope and mail him around the world.
So apparently grade schools all over the country have taken this story and turned it into a pretty cool geography project. Students are encouraged to give their little cutouts of Flat Stanley to traveling family and friends, who take pictures with Flat Stanley in different spots and then write a little about each place.
My cousin Becky sent me a few for her son Jack, as I'm frequently traveling around the world.
Here's Flat Stanley in Dubai. Dubai is a pleasant place.
Here he is pointing to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
That's all very well and good. Mission accomplished. The problem is once I got back to Afghanistan I have failed pretty tremendously. First of all, Kabul in the wintertime is not an attractive place. Especially since grocery stores have been blowing up, all I get to see is the drive back and forth to work.
I did manage to get this gem.
Welcome to the apocalypse Flat Stanley. I hope you packed plenty of canned food and bottled water.
Run Flat Stanley. Run as fast as your useless paper legs will carry you.
I don't want to scare the children. Flat Stanley is a beloved character, not to be kidnapped and thrown in the trunk of a dusty Toyota Corolla.
