It Wasn't Me This Time

Ah Halloween, the baristas were in fine form, chipper and perky and dressed albeit half-assed for Halloween. The man in front of me was decked out in orange and black. He was lamenting the fact that nobody at his office dressed up. His enthusiasm for the costumed baristas was overwhelming. He yelled over the espresso machine to tell half assed superhero he liked her cape. His boisterous tone was both irritating and endearing. This man was sincere in his Halloween spirit.
“What are you?…Oh you are a cat…awesome!”
“Look at you Mr. Vampire, very cool”
“What are you?!,” He shouted to one of the Incredibles…
”very nice, yeah!”
“And You! What are you?!” he asked the woman at the register wearing a black head scarf..
“I’m a Muslim” said the woman, not in costume.
“Yeah! Right on! that’s awes---“ (cricket cricket…I think the music may have even screeched to a halt) he stopped abruptly and walked away. You could feel the humiliation in the air. I felt for the guy, as did the baristas.

I relay this story because it is so like something I would do. I felt sorry for the exuberant Halloween enthusiast and can absolutely relate to not knowing what to say and just walking away. Of course, usually I would say something more. I would make it worse. I would keep talking and talking and by the time I got my drink I would have alienated the entire south Seattle industrial district.

The experience made me smile. I was happy that a grown man was so into Halloween he was willing to share is excitement with everyone in sight. I was happy to see a three-hundred pound man dressed almost completely in orange and yeah, I was happy that someone else in the world says stupid things like I do.

I love Halloween and while I didn’t celebrate in costume, handing out candy to trick or treaters or toilet papering my 9th grade history teacher’s house, I had a pretty fine time eating German food, downing Spaten Optimator at the Peoples Pub and writing run on sentences.