Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner with a quick word before today's episode.

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I really only started paying attention to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade about 10 years ago when my family and I moved

into the neighborhood where the parade starts and where the night before, they stage everything.

This is on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. They take over two extra wide streets to lay out the

giant balloons. Each balloon arrives folded up flat in its own small rolling cart. It gets

unpacked, unfolded, laid out on the pavement, and then comes the helium. There's a truck nearby

with big helium canisters stacked horizontally on a rack. Up close, the balloons are really big.

You see this as soon as they start drinking up some helium and puff up to full size. But tonight is Wednesday, the night before the parade, inflation night, they call it. So the balloons aren't allowed to rise to parade height. Each one has a net thrown across the top and the net is held down by sandbags.

If you happen to be passing by on foot, this can provide an unusual view of your favorite

balloon character, a bulging eyeball, a massive derrier, some very chubby fingers.

Many thousands of people come see the balloons on inflation night. It is an unusual and joyful scene for the visitors and the locals. For many people,

myself included, it is the best New York night of the year. A lot of people who live on these blocks throw inflation parties

up in their apartments. And when you look straight down out of your window, you get another

unusual and wonderful view of the balloons. I've watched this whole operation for several years now,

and every year, I'm a little bit more impressed.

The parade people execute the mission with a blend of military efficiency and childlike glee.

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