Stage Tears Test

If our theatrical production calls for dramatic heartbreak, an engineer needs reliable stage effects! Plastic eyes don't produce moisture on command, so I set out to invent practical movie-set tears right on the coffee table. Keeping my glitter dumpling safe beside the wooden tissue-box stage, I scavenged an unbent paperclip and a clean clear glass dropper lying by an empty water glass. Wedging the metal wire upright into a small blob of blue mounting putty, I hooked the rubber bulb in place. Then, I tipped a single drop of fresh water onto the tip of a clear plastic drinking straw. With one light tap against the straw end, two neat, glistening droplets rolled cleanly down my plastic cheeks right onto my red overalls! Now that's what I call prime stagecraft—completely ready for our big tragic scene!