It was a special Halloween day at the SF Zoo. First time I’ve ever been here and it’s very true in the saying “you get what you pay for.” For $9 I literally saw 2….maybe 3 animals. The lion was one of them. The other was a gorilla who came out briefly, peed and went back in his cage. The third (and yes I know a child isn’t an animal but you go to Chuck-E-Cheese on a weekend and tell me who’s not an animal!) were at least 5 Chinese children dressed as chickens. I couldn’t figure out how a child would decide that being a chicken was a good thing. But then Creed reminded me that in 2005 it was the Year of the Chicken and the decision on the outfits probably had a lot of parent influence.

I remember one Halloween when I was 8 and I really, absolutely, most passionately wanted to be Wonder Woman. I wanted the real outfit, not the one you can buy for $20 at the drug store. But my mother, being an emergency room nurse, decided that I should be a doctor. So instead of wearing something that resembled patriotic underwear with matching gold cuffs and a tiara I joined the school’s Halloween parade in scrubs. None of the kids got it. Only the parents and even they were not that amused.

So this is a message to those kids who really wanted to be Superman this year. I’m really sorry your parents pulled out the chicken outfit. However, I do have to say. You looked really cute.