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| red clown hat today |
Mike
started working at MAS in the summer of 2003. I had not met him
before – but we had talked on the phone a couple of times over the
years when he was a client and was asking the status of samples he
had sent to us. When Mike drove into the parking lot that first
morning, I was gawking out the window just to see what he looked
like.
He
was taller than I had imagined.
One
day at work a few months later, I was chatting with another co-worker
when I saw Mike walking down the hall. His shoulders were sloped and
his head was down. I suddenly was miffed at always seeing him look
like that. I excused myself from the conversation and moved into
Mike's path – he was still quite a ways down the hall. I stood
there until he almost ran into me. Then Mike stopped and lifted his
eyes to see what the obstacle was. I said, “Is there something in
particular that is
making you so miserable today,
or were you born
that way and you are just always
miserable?”
Mike said, “Both.”
“Well,
tomorrow, I am going to wear my red clown hat, and you are going to
smile.” I stepped aside and Mike's head and shoulders drooped
again as he continued down the hall.
The
next morning I was in my closet picking out something to wear to
work. Suddenly I remembered the clown hat – I was just being glib
when I had said I would wear it. But then I told myself that if I
could find the red clown hat in 1 minute or less, I would don it for
work that day. The red clown hat was where it always was - on the top
shelf of the closet on the case that stores my clown make-up.
People
at the lab asked me why I was wearing the goofy hat. Everyone except
Mike – he was not there! He was on a consulting job somewhere. I
explained that I was tired of Mike being such a downer - he needed to snap out of it!
Later that afternoon, Mike showed up at the lab. I went to his office
door and softly said, “I'm wearing my red clown hat today.” He
tried real hard to give me a smile.
It
was a few months after that Mike started asking me out. I thought he
was kidding, so it was easy to just say no thanks. But then one
Sunday I had worked all day at the lab. I left at 6:30pm. And for
some reason, Mike showed up at the lab after that. He saw the sign-in
sheet – saw that I had been there before him. The next morning
there was a handwritten note on my keyboard – it said something to
the effect that 12 hours of work on a Sunday is not much fun –
maybe we could do dinner and a show sometime?
 |
| lifted from facebook this month, of course |
Again, I thought he was just
kidding, just being nice. But as the morning wore on, I began to
think maybe I should say yes. I'm such a sucker for a hand-written
note! Mike was out of the lab most of the day on a consulting job,
but late that afternoon, he called me – he had been nervous all day
waiting for me to answer! Oh my gosh!
Today
is the 11th anniversary of the morning I found that note on my keyboard. The red clown hat really had nothing to do with our
getting together, but since this is the self-proclaimed Month of the
Clown, and the same month of that hand-written request for a date –
I can make that connection.
And be all smiles about tomorrow!!
263
20150920 Red Clown Hat
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