Driving back from my vacation in Maine this weekend, I was trying to figure out what to be this year for Halloween. There is nothing like a long, long drive to get the gears in your mind going. And mine were whizzing all day!
There are the usual choices – a witch, a scarecrow, a nun. There are the second rung choices like a bumble bee, a pirate, or since I just got back from New England, a pilgrim. I stopped trying to be a princess when I was four years old. That’s when I dressed as the most beautiful princess, walked out the door with my brother and my goodie bag, tripped over my princess dress and ended up face (and dress) down in a mud puddle. I was not born to be a princess, and I did not work myself into the role.
But as I was thinking about this year’s costume, I happened to check out the New York Times, where there was an interesting column: What the Costumes Reveal
by Joe Nocera. And suddenly, I got a whole bunch of new costume ideas.
I could go as a horse’s ass! I could go as a heartless bastard! I could go as a housing foreclosure lawyer!
You see, Nocera’s column was all about the law firm of Steven J. Baum, a firm that specializes in housing foreclosures in the Buffalo, New York area. They are a humorous bunch of folks, and they really know how to have a good time. I’m just bummed that I wasn’t invited to their Halloween Party last year. Because the employees — whose jobs it is to throw people out of their homes — were encouraged to dress up as homeless people! Nocera’s column has pictures to show some of the more special costumes. How spooky! What a hoot! Can you think of a better costume?
Photo Courtesy of the NY Times
Well I did. This year, I am dressing up as “A Progressive Check Writer.” I’ll do it by wearing my heart on my sleeve. I’m going to double my regular annual donation to the organizations I normally support that help the homeless in the DC/NoVA area where I live. And I’m going to send a matching one, in honor of the law firm of Steven J. Baum, to the Buffalo City Mission, whose job is a little busier thanks to the law firm of Steven J. Baum.
Next year I’ll be a horse’s ass. This year (and last) it’s been done.
