Trick or (Re)Treat?

You may have heard that today is Halloween.  At work they had a costume contest, and almost everyone went all out trying to win.  I say "almost" everyone because there was one person who did not participate at all.

I'll give you three guesses.

All day long I dodged a constant barrage of questions such as, "Did you not know about the contest?" and "I'm sorry, did someone you know die on Halloween?"  But what they couldn't see is that for this holiday I dressed in the same disguise I do every other day.  Rae, the happy, normal young person.

And oh yes, I go all out.  Note the attention to detail.  See the super-high skinny heels to ward off any suspicion that I am concealing debilitating arthritis?  See the doctor's appointments scheduled at the ass crack o' dawn so I don't attract attention by taking time off for some mysterious ailment?  See the nearly saint-like ability to give an empathetic nod and not say "Oh, so you think that's bad..." when continually assaulted by the sob stories of patients and coworkers?

But the most important piece of the costume is the mask of bland complacency that I get up and put on day after day.  The plastered look that says, "Hey, there's nothing remotely extraordinary about me," and "Hey, it's not ironic at all that you said you wish you had my life."   That is the look that makes the costume almost frightening in its realism.  It is so believable that when I see it in the mirror, even I get a little spooked.

So yes, I heard about the contest, and no, I didn't have a traumatic childhood Halloween experience.  I am just too busy pretending not to be myself to pretend to be someone else.

Comments

[cancerbaby]

Yep. And for sure you should have won, and won something far better and more satisfying than, say, free movie tickets or a gift certificate to a local chain restaurant, which is typical Halloween contest fare.