My facebook profile picture is taken from this. I chose it
as my profile pic when I was the most mad at this guy. Well, maybe not the most mad because I think I’d settled
down a bit. I wanted a cow pic and this was the best I could find. Ah…another
rose among the thorns metaphor.
This picture was taken at a Science, Technology, Engineering
and Math (STEM) outreach event at my company. I was the emcee for a 3-day event
of high schoolers onsite to learn about all sorts of things STEM. Day 2 fell on
Halloween so OF COURSE I DRESSED UP!!!!
OK. I might have dressed up even if it was the middle of July because
the COW-culator is just cool. Day 2 was
also when local dignitaries (politicians, university and school district 25
officials, and technical business owners) were in attendance to check out the
program.
Being in a cow suit around the suits and ties and dress
pants is somethin’.
This picture was captured
about 5 months before I would meet the Mayor again in person to discuss the
City’s proposed non-discrimination ordinance. I did not wear the cow suit, but I thought
about it.
I wore black pants and a pink shirt for our private meeting
in his office. The outfit captures the colors of cow and offers a splash of girly.
I also wore my dress shoes with a heel. I intended to be taller than he for our
firm handshake before talking. I had heard from another friend that she felt
intimidated and almost bullied by him. (I realize this is hearsay, and I
hesitate to add it, but it goes to my state of mind and also how I’ve continued
to approach my relationship with this man and many other people as well.)
My meeting was nice. I was very candid with the mayor about
some very, very personal and private experiences and I felt he listened with as
kind and as understanding of an ear as he possibly could. His life experience
and perspective are different than mine. Everyone’s on the council’s are.
That’s why I finally had to force some conversation. I can tell ya….the Mayor likely
knew darn well when we posed for that picture who he was standing next to. Does
it look like he has an issue with it? With me?
The funny thing…this wasn’t my first picture with him while in a
cow suit. I’d cheered at a fun run at a
local elementary school the year before with some friends and his kids were
there running. He posed with the herd then.
I compartmentalize my brain like a cow’s belly. That’s what
I do. I also run. I bike. I put on the cow suit and I continue to live and just
hope people continue to get to know one another and grow right along with me. I
don’t like feeling angry. I don’t like holding on to that.
My first handshake with him after the ordinance votes was in
a cow suit. Of course it was. He made
the effort to cross the street and look me in the eye and shake my hand while
he was in a fun run. And I didn’t think twice about extending mine.
I’ve teased him for months about cowing with me. For a
recent $300,000 grant contest, city employees borrowed my suits for a video
campaign called “Healthy Heifers of Po-Cow-tello and Chubbuck.” I almost got him
in a suit then but …politics. Humph. He
said “his people” didn’t think it was a good idea. I udderstand.
Well, this weekend...this happened. He was kicking off the
start of Pocatello’s Just Cuz marathon when he saw our small herd cheering. He
stopped and shook my hand and said, “Ya know what—I’ll come back after I start
the race. And yes. I’ll put on a suit with you.”
I have considered politics. I think being the Mayor of
Pocatello would be awesome. I love this place and all of its quirky beauty and imperfections.
But I would have a similar problem that
I think this Mayor has: I’m a nice guy. (Gender aside, of course.) I would struggle making decisions because I
really want everyone to be happy. I want everyone to put on a cow suit and
cheer for everyone who isn’t in one for whatever reason, and I just want
everyone to get along.
That’s unrealistic, though. You have to make a decision. And
today…I’m going to have to make one.
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