It is the Holiday Season

It is the holiday season; at least that is what the woman in the restroom of The Corner Bakery confirmed to me this morning. After meeting friends for breakfast, I went into the women’s restroom. As I closed the door of my stall a voice from the handicapped stall called out that there was no toilet paper in mine. I thanked her out loud and silently thanked god that I hadn’t sat down yet. The woman went on to say that she was only using the stall to fix her skirt, so when I opened my door, we almost ran into each other. Somehow, by lifting her blouse to adjust a tablecloth-looking Christmas-colored plaid skirt, she exposed her black bra. While in the stall, she told me that she had put red and green food coloring in her hair to look more festive, and that she stands outside and waves to people just to get them to smile. She went on to say that she hoped she didn’t look dirty, because people wouldn’t smile at a dirty person. I tried to remember if she looked dirty, but all I could remember from our brief encounter was her skirt and one of those Maidenform-type bras that look more like armor.

Just then, another woman walked into the restroom, and must have bumped into her, because I heard some apologies spoken. The festive woman again explained that she was just fixing her skirt, and that it was giving her trouble. By this time I was done, and exited the stall. The other woman did not get the warning of no toilet paper, so it was just the seasonally decorated woman and me by the sink. As I washed my hands, she asked me if she looked forty. I turned around and had a good look at her face. I could see that it was streaked with faded red and green food coloring that actually did look more like dirt than anything else. She was a real amateur when it came to sprucing up her hair with food coloring. She was looking at me so intently, that I realized I had not answered her question, which is rude. If someone asks you if they look their age, it is much more polite to say, “No, not at all” right away, then to scrutinize the face for several seconds before answering. So I blurted out “No!” and turned to dry my hands. She then pulled up her blouse again and asked me if she looked pregnant. It looked like she was nine months pregnant, and I could not lie, so I mumbled, “yes, kind of.” She said she had diabetes and that is why her belly looked that way. As I swung open the door, she confided in me that she doesn’t have her period anymore, so it would be embarrassing for people to think she was pregnant. I smiled sympathetically and we wished each other happy holidays.

This evening Scott and I joined some friends at the Ocean Beach Holiday Parade. Ocean Beach has a unique personality and it is all put on display at the annual holiday parade. One of the first groups to march down the main drag was a cluster of people with huge banners that read, "Jesus Lives.” Right behind them was another group of people with a banner that read “Rosie’s Bail Bonds.” It is this kind of juxtaposition of businesses that make the parade, and Ocean Beach, unique. There were the “Race for Dreams Not Drugs” hot-rodders, followed by an unorganized group of girl scouts with their moms, the Drool Team, which is a veterinarian hospital that gets its clients to walk dogs of all sizes, the traditional line of well-cared-for Woodies decked out in Christmas lights, the mayor waving from a convertible while pretty girls flung candy canes to the kids, a gaggle of VWs grid-locking the parade route and the neighborhood health food store clerks pushing shopping carts full of organic oranges that they gave away to the crowd. The local high school showed up with a marching band in full uniform, and a rock and roll band on a flatbed truck, and a huge float that looked like they forgot they were doing a float and threw something together with butcher paper and paint. A church tried to create a live crèche with a baby, three kings, a Jesus, a Joseph, a Mary, a couple of sheep and a real live camel. The camel was not into the Christmas spirit and bucked and pulled at its tether, not caring to walk in a straight line at all. There was the robot giraffe that was almost as tall as the two story buildings, and a group of very creative stilt walkers stumping down the street. They didn’t carry a banner, so I don’t know who they represented. A local elementary school proudly displayed their unicycle team, which literally did circles around their chaperons.

The crowd was almost as colorful as the parade. There was the homeless-looking skateboarder going against the parade traffic, the guy in a full reindeer costume walking with a group of friends, the dogs in Santa hats and reindeer horns, teenagers trying to sell mistletoe, and lots of families and old folks bundled up in bunches on the three blocks that make up the business section of OB and dead-end at the beach. There was barely room to move on the sidewalks, as they were so full of people, lawn chairs and strollers. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, sipping cups of hot chocolate or coffee, cheering and clapping, and relaxed in the local atmosphere that makes Ocean Beach so colorful.

I always look forward to the O.B. Holiday Parade because it marks the beginning of the holiday season.