Cupcakes, Cheers and Courage

Submitted to the Idaho State Journal on 2/4/2014.

I began this week basking in the afterglow of courage. On Monday morning, the weekend was a jubilant memory of personal triumph. The Friday before, it was a gauntlet. Courage is subjective, relative and abundant in our midst, and I’ve begun to see hints of its existence in nearly everyone.

An internal dialogue on courage began swirling in my head two weeks ago when I met local cake artist Paula Ames. She showed up at my office with a dozen of her coconut lime cupcakes just for me. She does this Tasty Tuesday promotion on her Facebook page where she asks fans for nominations of good in our community. Then she surprises people with some of the best darn cupcakes you can imagine and lets winners know that someone thinks they are wonderful.

Paula’s delivery and my friend’s nomination were sweet and I shared my thanks with both of them. I wanted to share my cupcakes with no one. 

Later that day, I texted Paula and asked if I could join her on a Tasty Tuesday delivery sometime in a cow suit. I asked if she would wear one with me. I assumed with our mutual acquaintance and the Tasty Tuesday nomination that Paula knew about my cow suit shenanigans. But she didn’t.  Our exchange was only briefly awkward.  Her skepticism transformed into courage as she shared her cow suit insecurities via text with this stranger who was by now devouring a third cupcake.

As our chat progressed, Paula surrendered to even more courage when she agreed to join me on a cow suit escapade, but with a caveat. Knowing that I would be in Boston, she agreed on a mutual adventure if I agreed to go to the Cheers bar, buy her a t-shirt and film myself singing the old TV show theme song, all in a cow suit. 

I do not sing in public. Ever. This is unprecedented. The element of being alone in one of America’s largest cities dressed as a cow was daunting, but really, it was the singing.

I worked off every one of those cupcakes as I pounded on the treadmill trying to convince myself I had the courage to do this. And by golly I did.

This Idaho cow girl left her hotel and boarded Boston’s subway desperate for some courage in a cow suit. I walked the Freedom Trail. People waved, mooed, and smiled at me and almost made me forget how scared I was. I stumbled upon and joined a march on the Capitol for climate change education. Marchers can be full of courage, and I was hoping I would catch some.

I continued on alone to Cheers through the Boston Commons Park. When I arrived I wasn’t alone for long. One of the hosts named Marcus donned my extra cow suit after I shared the story of my challenge. He was skeptical, but after he saw me simply sitting, smiling and sipping a cold one, he joined me.  There’s nothing to fear in being a steer. Well, actually, there might be.

When the manager cued the song, the whole bar sang with us. Two guys from Spain, a group from New Jersey, men, women and a couple of us in cow suits all had the same troubles carrying a tune and tracking lyrics. It was true about Cheers. I felt like I was in a time and place where everyone knows that people are all the same.  I wish Idaho would see that.

The present Idaho Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in housing and employment based on age, disability, race, religion, and gender. For the last eight years supporters have asked the Idaho Legislature to hold a public hearing and ultimately add the words “sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Hours before courageous “Add the Words” protestors were getting arrested at the Boise Capitol, I was blogging about courage. I’m not sure I agree with the protestors’ actions prompting arrest, but I understand feeling like it’s the only move they’ve got. I applaud their peaceful courage and support their cause. Our cause.

If they have the courage to stand up and get arrested, I can at least continue to write in the first person. It’s getting easier, but it’s scary every single time.

I accepted a silly challenge that required a new kind of courage for me and I felt inexplicable pangs of guilt because many people need real courage for real things. Monday’s protests in Boise were about that reality.  Singing solo in a cow suit in a big city is one thing. Living and working is another. It shouldn’t take courage to live and work openly in this state, but it does. Add the Words, Idaho.