Why is it that children in particular, and people more generally, get so much pleasure from blowing out a candle?
Is this desire to extinguish a flame limited to American culture? I’d guess that it’s a quirk of human nature — a sense of power perhaps.
I am not sure about everyone else, but I mostly like blowing out the candles to watch the smoke twist, curl and rise up in interesting ways.
Oh, and I also like to try to see how far away I can be from the candle when I try to blow it out. Just me?
I wonder if children like to blow out the candle because they are not allowed to light it. Most parents don’t let their children use matches (“And rightly so,” says Smokey the Bear), but many parents will allow their children to blow out the candle. So, maybe it’s a child’s parentally-sanctioned opportunity to play with danger.
Personally, I enjoy the smell of an extinguished candle.