Bucky

I have a confession to make – I’m a member of the MOB. No, I don’t belong to a nefarious organized crime organization. I belong to the Men Of Barksdale, the group of men who volunteer at Ella’s school.

Last week, the school asked the MOB to greet the kids at morning drop off, and they were looking for volunteers. I signed up because I’ve done this before, and it’s fun and relatively easy. All I have to do is wave at kids and say “Good Morning” as they enter the school.

Then, I got the message that no MOB member wants to get. “Hey, we need somebody to play Bucky. Would you be willing to do it?”

Bucky the Bronco is the school’s mascot. They needed somebody to dress up in the school mascot’s costume and greet the kids as they entered the school.

My first instinct was to make up an excuse because I really didn’t want to do it. I’m not a natural when it comes to interacting with children. I’m pretty good with my own kids now, but being surrounded by a bunch of children is not my wheelhouse. So, thinking like a spy at work, I scanned my brain to find an excuse, but it turns out that I would make a terrible spy because I came up with nothing. And it was text, not even a phone call. I had all the time in the world to come up with an excuse, but I held a big bag of nothing. I guess lying is a skill I never fully developed.

Also, I had just finished reading “The Comfort Crisis” by Michael Easter. In the book, he discusses the fact that we live mostly comfortable lives, and he shows the value of embracing discomfort. Granted, most of his book talks about things like physical discomfort, but the point is that when you live a comfortable life, you are only going to get what you already have. You have to be uncomfortable to achieve anything noteworthy or to experience something new. So, I told myself that the next time I found an opportunity to do something uncomfortable, I was going to do it. The thought of dressing up as the school mascot made me really uncomfortable. It’s not exactly Caribou hunting in the Yukon for a month, but it’s an uncomfortable baby step.

So, I said yes.

That morning, I told Ella that I couldn’t walk her to the bus stop because I had to get to school early. I was going to be Bucky. She was so excited and asked if she would see me. I told her that she probably wouldn’t see me because I would be in the front of the school, and the bus drops off kids at the back of the school.

I got to school early and told the staff that Bucky was there. Then, they led me to a conference room by the school office where I fumbled to put on the costume. There wasn’t an owner’s manual or YouTube video for me to figure this thing out. Do I still wear my shoes inside the monstrous costume feet that they provide or just roll with sock feet? And how the heck was I supposed to zip up the zipper in the back when I have the shoulder flexibility of a geriatric buffalo?

I completed the process as best I could and strolled through the school office. I opened the door to the office and didn’t make it an entire step into the hallway before I was swarmed by a mob (no pun intended) of first and second-graders.

I learned very quickly that kids LOVE Bucky.

All I could hear was “Bucky! Bucky! Bucky!” as I felt dozens of pairs of little arms giving me hugs. And then I saw the crowd parting as one kid was fighting her way through the phalanx like a leper trying to touch Jesus (Yes, I just compared Bucky the Bronco to Jesus. Deal with it).

Then, that little girl made her way to Bucky and yelled, “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! That’s my Daddy!” as Ella reached up and gave me the biggest hug. I don’t think she was supposed to reveal the true identity of Bucky, but that wasn’t the time to educate my daughter on proper mascot protocol.

I made my way to the front of the building and spent the next twenty minutes getting hugs and high-fives from little kids. I also learned that there is no better way to start the day than getting hugs and high-fives from kids. I could feel my heart smiling for the rest of the day. My uncomfortable moment ended up being one of the most memorable mornings of my life.

So, next time you have an opportunity to do something uncomfortable, just say yes and be Bucky. You just might make a lasting memory.

P.S. Just don’t agree to be Bucky in the summer in Texas. That costume is wicked hot. Being uncomfortable does not mean being miserable and passing out from heat exhaustion.