Halloween (sans pictures)

OK, I still don't have the pictures from Halloween, but I wrote this AGES ago (OK, maybe it was only two weeks ago, but it FEELS like ages) and I'm just going to post it, pictures or no pictures.

So here it is:

This is supposed to be my Halloween story, but I do not yet have the accompanying pictures. However, I may have them by the end of the day (note: I did not get them at the end of the day), in which case, this could still be my Halloween story. So let's get the story part out of the way.

I mentioned on my Facebook page (I know, it's shocking. I actually updated my status. It only happens every three or four months, so I kind of doubt that anyone actually saw it since I've trained them not to look at my page. WHICH IS EXACTLY HOW I WANT IT. As soon as people think I might actually be a part of an online community, they start expecting me to do things like answer them in a timely manner when they leave me a message.) that I was considering my costume options. On the one hand, I bought that dress that looks very Star Trek. Not only that, but the dress is from Otto, and I always like wearing Otto clothes when I'm working. "Working" being a fairly loose term for what I was doing on Saturday since a great part of my job involved handing out candy to the throngs of children. However, though the dress is very reminiscent of Star Trek, it is not entirely accurate. For one thing it's black and gray when it ought to be black and red or blue or gold. For another thing....no, wait, that's the only thing. Other than that it looks almost exactly like a Starfleet uniform. (The spell-check does NOT recognize "Starfleet". I'm shocked.) And it looks even more like a Starfleet uniform when I wear my communicator pin which my mother bought me from Geeks-R-Us.

Option 2 was to wear a red shirt with black trousers. I even considered doing some fancy make-up effects to make me appear dead, since we all know that is the fate of Red Shirts. (Or do we all know that? Have I nerded all of you up enough? The rule is, if three of the main cast are beaming down to the planet with Ensign Ricky, who is wearing a red shirt, you can bet that Ensign Ricky will be dead before the first commercial break. This 'proves' that the situation is very serious and the main characters are in danger. Except we know they aren't because, hello, they'll be back on next week.) Although, that's not actually true in The Next Generation because Captain Picard wears red, and he certainly hasn't died yet. Neither has Smug Git. (I love Will Riker, I really do, but he can be a bit of a smug git sometimes, so I've taken to calling him that. I say it fondly, though.) Therefore, this costume choice would be more accurate to classic Trek, but then my communicator is Next Gen, so again, we have a bit of a pickle. (Not really, I just like saying "pickle".)

I went with option 1. I figured most of Park Slope wouldn't really know the difference, and I would look nice and maybe even sell the dress. (I did actually have two girls about my age who complimented me and asked if I had made the outfit myself. "No," I replied, "What kind of dork do you think I am? I bought it here." I showed it to them, they oohed and ahhed, and mused that maybe they could buy it and dress as Trekkers for Halloween. I then had to explain that the communicator did not come with the dress. That I was, in fact, the kind of dork they thought, and no, they could not borrow the pin.) Oh, I forgot to mention that in addition to the communicator pin, I had my pips (little gold circles which display your rank) which I made by sticking two gold earrings through the neck of the dress. They looked amazingly accurate, and I checked online to see what rank that would make me just in case anyone asked (which they didn't, but I told them anyway, at every opportunity). Lieutenant Poyer, at your service.

I must admit that I did try the communicator out. "Lieutenant Poyer to Captain Picard," I said, tapping the pin once. No one answered. Sigh.

Many people recognized that I was a Star Trek Character, but only two recognized that there was something not quite right about my outfit.

"What does gray represent? I don't remember that specialty. Red is for command, blue for science and gold for tactical, so what is gray for?" This was asked by an middle-aged man who was trick-or-treating with a large group of adults and children.

I smiled. "Yeah, it's not entirely accurate, but I did the best with what I had."
I only saw one other Trekker in costume, and (surprisingly) it was another woman. She had an official costume, though, not something cobbled together. I happened to be surrounded by children when she came up, but I did hear someone say, "But she's from Next Generation," and looked up in time to see the fellow Trekker standing with her husband (I'm assuming) and a few others all looking intently at me. I smiled and waved, then was forced to concentrate on the jostling children. I swear, the more candy they get, the more desperate they are.
All in all, it was a fun day. Several people said, "Live long and prosper" to which I replied, "Actually, that's from the original Star Trek series with Spock, whereas I am from Star Trek The Next Generation." I'm kidding. I didn't say that. What kind of nerd do you think I am? I just laughed and smiled and did the hand gesture back at them (the Star Trek hand gesture, not the rude one).

I did, however, correct Deirdre who saw my outfit and said, "The Force is with you."

"No, Deirdre," I said. "That's Star WARS. I'm from Star TREK."

"There's a difference?" she asked.

FACEPALM