This should have been a dare…

I flew from the Salt Lake City airport to Portland on Halloween, and on a whim right before I left, decided to get out and wear my M&M Costume from a few years ago. It didn’t make sense to wear it to try and clear security, so I just packed it all in my carry-on bag, and waited until I arrived. Once off the plane, I slipped into the nearest restroom and took about 15 minutes to change into it. Then I walked out toting a purse and pulling my small carry-on suitcase with my former clothes in it.

It was an interesting study in psychology as I walked through the airport alone, dressed as a big red chocolate M&M. As I walked out of the restroom and onto the moving sidewalk, I heard the people behind me gasp and whisper to each other. My first thought was, “This should have been a dare!” It made me smile. I found it interesting that some people avoided all eye contact with me, but more people would look and smile at me, or just to themselves. As I made eye contact and smiled back, some of them laughed or made a comment if I was close enough to hear. I got several more smiles than any regular day of just smiling at people. I also found it interesting that the 3-4 other passengers that I walked by who were dressed up in costume to travel were mostly looking down and avoiding all eye contact with anyone and one of them even wore shades!

As I met Brian Felt and his daughter Olivia (who picked me up @ the airport), they were amused. Livvy had just woken up from a nap and wasn't sure what to think for a while, but she did sing a song about my costume on the drive home.