No Mustard Only on Helium

Helium is a kind of air that is absolutely useless except for two things.  First, it floats balloons.  Second, it makes your voice hilariously high for about 20 seconds if you inhale it.  That's it.  It doesn't do anything else.  It's not dangerous or vital for life or anything.

This brings me to the next point on Helium.  How do they harness it to put in those tanks they sell to balloon party shops and dentist offices?  Can you make it, or do you have to cultivate it out of thin air, literally?  I can't imagine they actually make it, because that would require some sort of atomic structuring, which, if it is possible, sounds really expensive and dangerous.  So they must just harvest it out of thin air.  But what I don't get is, Helium floats.  It floats like crazy.  If I let a balloon go that is filled with Helium, it will shoot up into the sky.  So how do they filter it out of the air without it just floating upwards?  And, do they have to go way up into the atmosphere to do this?  Because I can't believe that there's any Helium down at eye level, it would just shoot straight up like a balloon.

Last, I think its bullshit that Helium is the no 2 element on the periodic table.  Its like hearing someone say that Bruce Almighty is the second best movie of all time.  It just doesn't seem appropriate.  While I suppose it is true that Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, (by a lot actually) I still don't think anyone would give a shit if it became extinct.

Ok, that's enough talk about Helium.