In Cognito
Halloween turned out to be a very busy day this year. Not only did I have the normal duties for a week day, but I was on schedule for my bowling league and I was invited to a costume party to top it all off. So in order to save time, I opted for a costume that would function in all environments. I will hold off the big reveal on who I am until the end, but below the cut is a sample of the result.
The office portion of the day was interesting. I come in pretty early in the morning and I decided to not advertise the fact that I was in costume. I just wanted to see how quickly my group would pick up on it. It actually took a little while mostly because a lot of my group does not have a clear view into my office. Not until the person across from me came in did they catch on. I think it was the glasses that tipped it off.
They were very surprised and impressed with how natural I got the get up to look. It creeped out some because of the visual disparity I fronted and it cracked up others due to the sheer novelty. All in all, I hit my expectations there.
They other interesting bit was my foray to the cafeteria. I stepped into the elevator along with someone else I knew from the floor. I greeted her and she responded in turn though warily. I let it slide and went about getting my lunch. After a couple of hours, she comes to my desk with a look of horrified recognition. Apparently, she completely failed to recognize me and only after hearing the rumor that I was costume did she come around to confirm her suspicions.
It made for an entertaining day watching the reactions of those who recognized me as well as the oddity of anonymity with people I am familiar with. This alone has me considering expanding my collection into a rudimentary disguise kit.
The next stop was the bowling alley. We were on schedule to play the dummy team and before you think I am being derogatory, let me explain. The league currently has seven teams. In order for them to get each team on schedule every week, one plays against a ghost team of scores based on the averages of real team. It is basically a challenge to hit within a boundary of your average for three games.
So, I show up and I am the first to arrive from my team only to discover that some sort of software upgrade has done something aggravating to the scoring machines and that the majority of us will have to keep score by hand. Eventually, they turn on the lanes for us to practice... but as it gets closer to 5:00, neither of my team mates have shown.
I actually bowl, and quite self-consciously I might add, through four of my frames before one of them comes through the entrance. She is very apologetic and in a hurry, but I calm her down by saying that we are playing the dummy team anyway so there really isn't any sort of hold up.
She catches up on her frames and though I was hoping that our last member would wander in as well, that was a pipe dream. Not that my companion wasn't good company, but it does sow the seed of doubt that this guy is all that interested in being on the team. He shows interest and is a nice enough fellow, but this is like the third time he has dropped a night and this time he did it without any sort of heads up.
So, we took our time. Without an opposing team and the third bowler we could really enjoy the night without feeling too rushed.
And much like I had expected in my last post, my new hook is still asserting itself. I bowled a 115, a 133 and a 134. This is much more in tune with my current average but a stark contrast to last week. Still, I did know pretty much up front when I threw a good ball. Now it is just a matter of stringing them together again.
After we wrapped up there, I made my way to the costume party. People liked my costume but spend nearly the entire night trying to guess what it was. Many were good suggestions for what it could be, but not until I took off my glasses at the end of the night did Eric guess that I was indeed my evil twin from an alternate dimension. Granted, the goatee should have been cropped higher, but I did have the confidence to alter the beard any further than I already had.
Even still, it was a clever concept that was executed pretty well. The only drawback is that I may have set some unrealistic expectations at work now for next year. We'll see.
The office portion of the day was interesting. I come in pretty early in the morning and I decided to not advertise the fact that I was in costume. I just wanted to see how quickly my group would pick up on it. It actually took a little while mostly because a lot of my group does not have a clear view into my office. Not until the person across from me came in did they catch on. I think it was the glasses that tipped it off.
They were very surprised and impressed with how natural I got the get up to look. It creeped out some because of the visual disparity I fronted and it cracked up others due to the sheer novelty. All in all, I hit my expectations there.
They other interesting bit was my foray to the cafeteria. I stepped into the elevator along with someone else I knew from the floor. I greeted her and she responded in turn though warily. I let it slide and went about getting my lunch. After a couple of hours, she comes to my desk with a look of horrified recognition. Apparently, she completely failed to recognize me and only after hearing the rumor that I was costume did she come around to confirm her suspicions.
It made for an entertaining day watching the reactions of those who recognized me as well as the oddity of anonymity with people I am familiar with. This alone has me considering expanding my collection into a rudimentary disguise kit.
The next stop was the bowling alley. We were on schedule to play the dummy team and before you think I am being derogatory, let me explain. The league currently has seven teams. In order for them to get each team on schedule every week, one plays against a ghost team of scores based on the averages of real team. It is basically a challenge to hit within a boundary of your average for three games.
So, I show up and I am the first to arrive from my team only to discover that some sort of software upgrade has done something aggravating to the scoring machines and that the majority of us will have to keep score by hand. Eventually, they turn on the lanes for us to practice... but as it gets closer to 5:00, neither of my team mates have shown.
I actually bowl, and quite self-consciously I might add, through four of my frames before one of them comes through the entrance. She is very apologetic and in a hurry, but I calm her down by saying that we are playing the dummy team anyway so there really isn't any sort of hold up.
She catches up on her frames and though I was hoping that our last member would wander in as well, that was a pipe dream. Not that my companion wasn't good company, but it does sow the seed of doubt that this guy is all that interested in being on the team. He shows interest and is a nice enough fellow, but this is like the third time he has dropped a night and this time he did it without any sort of heads up.
So, we took our time. Without an opposing team and the third bowler we could really enjoy the night without feeling too rushed.
And much like I had expected in my last post, my new hook is still asserting itself. I bowled a 115, a 133 and a 134. This is much more in tune with my current average but a stark contrast to last week. Still, I did know pretty much up front when I threw a good ball. Now it is just a matter of stringing them together again.
After we wrapped up there, I made my way to the costume party. People liked my costume but spend nearly the entire night trying to guess what it was. Many were good suggestions for what it could be, but not until I took off my glasses at the end of the night did Eric guess that I was indeed my evil twin from an alternate dimension. Granted, the goatee should have been cropped higher, but I did have the confidence to alter the beard any further than I already had.
Even still, it was a clever concept that was executed pretty well. The only drawback is that I may have set some unrealistic expectations at work now for next year. We'll see.