I'm always a little nervous starting a new job assignment, mostly because my coworkers often think I'm a weirdo. On my last assignment, they were a little taken aback when I showed up the first day wearing a necklace of a panda bear that looked like Gene Simmons, and honestly, that was from my more conservative jewelry collection. However, this new assignment started close to the Halloween season, which turned out to be very, very fortunate for me.
When I wore my pewter "Freddy Krueger Glove" necklace on the first day, my boss thought it was great that I was getting in to the spirit of Halloween so early. Umm . . . what? This was my normal, everyday jewelry attire. But okay. I'd roll with it.
My Jack Skellington bag, skull socks, twins-from-The-Shining cameo necklace, blood-spattered hair clips, and chainsaw earrings were all met equally with delight and approval. What was going on here? I once had a boss who told me my tasteful and subdued black cat earrings were "not appropriate" because they "showcased my personality" (and good lord, we certainly couldn't have that, could we?). But now I was being encouraged to let my inner crazy shine. Was this all an elaborate hoax? Was I about to be fired?
When October 1st hit, things became clearer. My wonderful, wonderful boss had not been allowed to decorate until the first of the month (apparently this had come up in years past), but once October hit, he, too, could embrace his inner ghoul. By the end of the day, the office was decorated with spiders, amputated hands, impressive homemade cannibal rats (including half-eaten rat babies), pumpkins, ghosts, and a giant witch dressed in gossamer, hanging from the ceiling. This explained a lot. What I had here was a kindred spirit.
My office-mates were equally embracing the Halloween festivities. One woman came in wearing a pumpkin on her head. Another decided it would be fun to try and dress up every day for the entire month. (A third unfortunate soul reported that she had nightmares after we had an important group discussion on whether or not The Exorcist was really based on a true story. Our bad.)
There's nothing quite like the feeling that you are embraced and accepted in an environment. And my particular fascination with all things dark and scary had finally, finally found a home. These were my people. I go into work these days with a smile on my face, humming the Addams Family theme song, wondering what the day will bring today. Papier-mâché eyeballs? Gummy spiders? I've already brought in trays of finger cookies (you know, cookies that literally look like fingers), brownies iced to look like tombstones, and sandwiches with fangs. I was awarded Employee of the Month for October.
I'm not sure what's going to happen when I come in wearing my embroidered skull sweater come November 1st, but for now, I'm going to enjoy this while I can!
When I wore my pewter "Freddy Krueger Glove" necklace on the first day, my boss thought it was great that I was getting in to the spirit of Halloween so early. Umm . . . what? This was my normal, everyday jewelry attire. But okay. I'd roll with it.
My Jack Skellington bag, skull socks, twins-from-The-Shining cameo necklace, blood-spattered hair clips, and chainsaw earrings were all met equally with delight and approval. What was going on here? I once had a boss who told me my tasteful and subdued black cat earrings were "not appropriate" because they "showcased my personality" (and good lord, we certainly couldn't have that, could we?). But now I was being encouraged to let my inner crazy shine. Was this all an elaborate hoax? Was I about to be fired?
When October 1st hit, things became clearer. My wonderful, wonderful boss had not been allowed to decorate until the first of the month (apparently this had come up in years past), but once October hit, he, too, could embrace his inner ghoul. By the end of the day, the office was decorated with spiders, amputated hands, impressive homemade cannibal rats (including half-eaten rat babies), pumpkins, ghosts, and a giant witch dressed in gossamer, hanging from the ceiling. This explained a lot. What I had here was a kindred spirit.
My office-mates were equally embracing the Halloween festivities. One woman came in wearing a pumpkin on her head. Another decided it would be fun to try and dress up every day for the entire month. (A third unfortunate soul reported that she had nightmares after we had an important group discussion on whether or not The Exorcist was really based on a true story. Our bad.)
There's nothing quite like the feeling that you are embraced and accepted in an environment. And my particular fascination with all things dark and scary had finally, finally found a home. These were my people. I go into work these days with a smile on my face, humming the Addams Family theme song, wondering what the day will bring today. Papier-mâché eyeballs? Gummy spiders? I've already brought in trays of finger cookies (you know, cookies that literally look like fingers), brownies iced to look like tombstones, and sandwiches with fangs. I was awarded Employee of the Month for October.
I'm not sure what's going to happen when I come in wearing my embroidered skull sweater come November 1st, but for now, I'm going to enjoy this while I can!
I'm pretending to be scared of the witch. My boss took this picture.
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