Appropriate Attire

On Sunday afternoon, I went to one of Birmingham’s outdoor food and music festivals. I was there to volunteer with kids. I had creative writing exercises for them. The group behind me had wild animals, and the group in front of our booth had pumpkins to decorate.

The creative writing was a tough sell.

Thanks to the Birmingham Zoo and their demonstration, I did however learn more about the chicken snake than I ever wanted to know. (The “chicken snake” name comes from their love of eggs and not chickens. Who knew?) I also saw a fabulous feline thing that I was told would not make a good house pet because it could not be litter-box trained. Since I have a domestic short hair cat that cannot be litter-box trained, I thought about asking if they’d make a special exception for me. I mean, sure, they went to zoo school, or whatever you call it, but I had lived the no-litter-box life. I’d been to the front lines.

Since we were in the kids’ area, when I saw a man in a black suit walking a rabbit, I assumed he was a magician. Tuxedo? Tame bunny? Wouldn’t you go to the same place?

I watched him and his bunny throughout my volunteer shift waiting for the act to begin. Where were the never-ending scarves? The pop-up bouquet? A crazy wand that crumbles when anyone but the magician holds it?

After an hour or so – and when the bunny went back into his cage – I realized that this man was no magician. He was just a dude in formal wear walking a rabbit.

I mean, you’d think the rabbit would be cool with being walked by someone in jeans or even sweats. That is either one demanding bunny or one man who is serious about his appearance. 

And for the many, many strange things I’ve seen – including the world champion pimp decked out in velour and Cheetah print holding his large gold trophy at the BWI airport – I still think I’m going to have to rank this one right up there.

Also, for anyone who might be wondering, even when you’re the world champion pimp, you fly Southwest. You might be good with the ladies, but apparently, it doesn’t guarantee that you won’t end up with a middle seat.

* P.S. I promise that the small black bump in the second photo is a rabbit. You may have to look closely, but I did capture proof of the bunny on a leash.