Tricks or Treats?

          There’s something about me that makes some people uncomfortable. I hear, “You’re having way too much fun,” a lot.

In quilting classes before class even starts, I’ve had people make that comment because I’m sitting with friends talking, and dare I say it, laughing! One teacher separated me and my friend Carol before we even sat down. I guess our crime was showing up together with smiles on our faces.

       I went for a job interview once to be a teaching assistant. I thought the panel interview with two teachers and the principal was going well. The teacher that I would be working with asked me how I’d get a group of first graders who were struggling more engaged in learning. I answered that I’d try to make learning fun with games and enthusiasm. My reasoning is that if you can set them up to enjoy learning in the first grade, it will be a good foundation for learning the rest of their lives.

        As the interview closed, we shook hands all around and I thanked them. I told them that I hoped to hear back from them, and turned to leave. That’s when one of the teachers said sarcastically, “Yeah, because we’re all about FUN here.” I knew they wouldn’t be calling me back.

         It made me very sad for her students, sadder too because it was the elementary school that my kids had attended. When I go back to that school every year for my reading assessment job, her first graders are always a glum bunch, well behaved, but very solemn as they march in. I wish I could bust them out of the jail that is the anti-fun teacher’s classroom, and I hope that they’ll get a better teacher for second grade.

           The latest reason why I must be reined in is that I had feathers put in my hair. The reactions are either: “Cool! I love it! Where did you get them put in?” or “Oh, you have feathers in your hair. Are those permanent?” with the face you make when something smells bad. It surprises me how uptight some people are.

         Halloween also seems to divide people into two groups: those who love it, and those who think it needs to be squashed. I’ve always been in the I-love-Halloween, bring on the costumes and candy group. It has always been my favorite holiday because it’s so much fun. There’s even “fun-sized” candy!

          However, after careful consideration, and under the influence of some stern feather disapproval, I decided that maybe I was too wild, too out of control. This year, unlike every other year in my memory, I would not dress up. I would be low key. I would grow up, and be an adult.

         So, this morning, in a serious very mood, I got ready for Zumba. I pulled my black workout pants on, and put my hair up in its usual workout pony tail. Then I went into my closet to find something, and a gray t-shirt with a black bat and the silhouette of a leafless black tree fell at my feet.

It was a sign! I ripped off my “grownup” t-shirt and pulled the spooky one on, then ran downstairs to a box that I keep costumes in. Cat ears headband, and black gloves with the fingertips cut off came flying out. Ran back upstairs to paint some heavy eyeliner on, and my batty cat costume was complete in 15 minutes.

Halloween Zumba at Vision Qwest.

At Zumba, there were a few other FUN people scattered on the dance floor in costumes. I got many compliments and high fives. I even managed to keep the cat ears on for the whole hour while I shook my tail (and hair) feathers.

Sorry boring party poopers, I just couldn’t do it. To all the other fun souls out there: Happy Halloween! Keep your costume about you, your candy close, and party on!

Laura Keolanui Stark will be handing out candy in her costume along with Suzie in her dachshund costume. She can be reached at stark.laura.k@gmail.com.