Thursday, February 16, 2006

Do a Grouch a Favor, or Make a Grouch Happy Day, February 16th



There seems to be some bit of conflict about which is the accurate name for the day today: Do a Grouch a Favor Day, or Make a Grouch Happy Day. I guess the difference is the first, you just might be share a small act of kindness, which might go unnoticed; the second, you might have to commit your whole day to making someone happy that is determined to be unhappy. And sometimes it takes really, a lot to make a grouch happy.

Once, when I was shopping I saw an Oscar the Grouch t-shirt that said "Cute when grouchy." I almost bought it. But, reconsidered when I thought that some people might not think that I am cute when I am grouchy. In fact, they might think I am right near ugly, when I am grouchy. Wearing that shirt that said I was cute when I was grouchy, would not make me cute when I was grouchy.

Also, I did not want to be the cause of any internal anger by wearing that shirt. You know, the anger that comes when one of your co-workers declares something to be annoying that they do all the time. Yeah, I didn't want to wear that shirt, and have any of my co-workers be mad at me because they think that I am not cute when I am grouchy. It was a shirt better left unbought, even though the memory of it haunts me today. And lets be real, I probably never would have worn it to work. Because, the day I did wear it to work would be the day I get sent to the attorney's office where on a day when I am dressed normally and all the nineteen and twenty year-old legal assistants are dressed all cute and trendy they make me feel old and shloopy, and if I were wearing an Oscar the Grouch t-shirt, well, I would just want to curl up and die with embarrassment.

(And just so I can feel better about myself. I don't think that I am the office grouch. But, I am insecure enough to worry about it. Because, does the office grouch ever really know they are? In my experience, the roommate grouch always thought she was the most delightful of people.)

Instructions to make a desk "Oscar the Grouch," to make you all sorts of happy today!

You will need:

1 empty film canister
1 large green pompom
2 small green pompoms
Hot glue gun, or craft glue
Two wiggly eyes

Take the lid off the canister. Take your glue gun and glue two small green pompoms towards the top of the canister, for his hands. Take your large pompom and glue it to the top of the film canister. Then glue the canister lid on top of the large pompom slightly tilted (for the garbage can lid) then glue the two wiggle eyes in place.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes. Your roommate grouch did consider herself divinely delightful. She probably would have bought the shirt... and reveled for a week or more at her belief in its irony.
And then she would have talked for the following week about how it made her green eyes stand out.
This wouldn't have been a good reason for you to have bought the shirt, though, since (as I believe she informed you more than once) you don't have green eyes.

Erin aka- absent-minded secretary said...

Oh, I had forgotten about the only she can have green eyes thing. Tee hee. I am so glad... well, some things are better left umsaid. :)

So you're back! Lovely one! How was the trip!