Eat Mor Chikin

We formally celebrated Halloween for the first time ever last night, and I learned how words mean different things to different groups of people.

Chel became a milkmaid, and because of my affinity for Chick-fil-A, I searched the Metroplex for a suitable cow costume to become the Chick-fil-A cow. This costume I rented was pretty intense; it even came with udders. (Which I regretted as the evening went on.) Marcy came along with us and she dressed as Marie Antoinette. She had quite a wig.

Naturally, when you’re dressed as a Chick-fil-A cow, you have to go to Chick-fil-A for dinner. We showed up there to light applause from the other dining guests and staff. One guy said, “You deserve free dinner, dude.” The manager rushed up to the cashiers and whispered, “Don’t give them anything free.”

Now we weren’t expecting a free dinner, but I was walking advertising for them all night, so I would have appreciated at least a free brownie or something. No such luck.

Chel got a little upset with their lack of customer service. And an upset milkmaid is not a pretty sight. The young manager got on the phone and a few minutes later timidly approached our table of a cow, a milkmaid and Marie Antoinette.

“Uh, I felt really bad about earlier, so I got on the phone with my general manager, and you guys can have whatever you want.”

“No worries, we’ve already eaten, but thanks for trying,” we said. He still felt bad though, so he returned to our table with free brownies. So Chick-fil-A redeemed itself, we had a happy milkmaid, and we were off to the party thrown by Katy and Doc.

Katy is a member of our little e-marketing group at SMU. The theme of the party was movie characters (which we didn’t follow), and I think some of the partygoers had worked on their costumes for months. It made me feel like a slacker for just renting something!

Our next stop was the Cedar Springs neighborhood, where we met up with our friend and Chelsea’s former co-worker Poston. Cedar Springs celebrates Halloween unlike any other neighborhood in Dallas; the area has a big concentration of gay bars, and I’ve been told that the gay community sees Halloween as their New Year’s.

So insert a milkmaid and a Chick-Fil-A cow into this scene. I proudly walked the crowded street in my costume and “Eat Mor Chikin” sign, and the crowd loved it. We got all kinds of applause and words of encouragement. People took my picture!

When we got to the bar where Poston was, one of his friends couldn’t get over my costume and sign. “You know what ‘chicken’ means in the gay community, right?” he asked, laughing.

“Uh, no. What does it mean?”

“It’s another word for yard bird. It means young men under 21!”

Ah. So no wonder I was so popular. I was walking down a street full of intoxicated people who thought that I was carrying a sign that meant “Eat More Young Men Under 21!”

We had fun, but next year, I think I’m just going as me. Without any signs.