10.31

America is a weird place. For the past month I have procrastinated the registration of You Too, and have left the task for the last possible day of completion, the 31st of October. As I took the long way to the DMV, I had forgotten that this was a special day. If I had decided to sit on nasty black, plastic chairs any other day, I would have a had a completely different experience than that of this blessed day. Before I walked through those ever too simple doors, I was expecting grumpy, unforgiving government workers. Instead, I got normal, everyday Americans, dressed as witches, and pirates, and pumpkins. As I sat there trying to think of anything but how long I had been there, I realized that we live in a strange place. One day, out of all the days of the year, we are allowed to be anyone but ourselves. We are able to put on a front and say "Peace, love and happiness" without being judged as a free spirit or hippie. And I believe I got better service because of it. It is sad to think that tomorrow, just a couple hours difference, will change the attitudes and demeanors of those government workers who so willingly helped me today. They will no longer have such a convenient conversation starter or tension-breaker. So, that leads me back to my opening statement: America is a weird place. If we really wanted to be a hippie or pirate, what is stopping us from that. Or even better, what makes us believe that it is okay to do it once a year?