Bad "Hat Hair" Days and Good Senses of Humor

I know what you're wondering:
"What is she doing NOW? Did she say she was in Afghanistan? Do they carry things on their heads in Afghanistan?"

I'm doing exactly what it looks like: I am carrying an office chair on my head so that I can avoid wearing my ugly, but mandatory, hat :)

Mystery solved.

You'd carry a chair on your head too, if you had seen the hat. That hat is not flattering. But the chair, well, it's ... I see your point. But at least the chair is black and it matched my shoes (you'll have to take my word for it). The same cannot be said of the hat.

The backstory: Anytime a contractor leaves the area where I live and work to conduct business on the military base, he or she must wear a hat and military-issued identification card that tells with which company they are affiliated. It's a security measure and, from a security-perspective, the hat is important. But, from a fashion-perspective, the hat is a nightmare. And it does unmentionable things to naturally "curly" (codeword for "frizzy") hair to which mankind should not be subjected. I was only thinking of others when I volunteered to carry that chair. It was a humanitarian effort -a favor to the rest of the occupants of Bagram Air Field, if you will - that prompted me to insist that I be allowed to carry the chair and, thereby, cover up my frizzy hat hair. Not having to wear the hat was just a peripheral benefit. I swear.

Really though, I wish I had pictures of the truly funny stuff: the mortified looks on the faces of both the men (remember, lots of Texans and Military Gents here) and women who saw me walking along with a chair on my head while my male co-workers flanked me, empty-handed (but for my hat) and grinning from ear-to-ear. One woman even confronted the guys about "making" me, a woman, carry a chair and she demanded of me "if [I] was crazy to not give up the chair". Little did she know that I'd fought for and won rights to carry that chair, fair and square. And I wasn't about to miss an opportunity to take off my (ugly) hat, so I just had to confuse both Texans and Military alike by politely thanking them for the offer, but firmly refusing to relinquish my "burden".

My boss took it all in stride. He merely nodded his approval and advised, "it's about time you started earnin' your keep around here." My boss, by the way, is neither Texan nor Military. He's from a state where it is not uncommon for a woman to carry a chair on her head: Louisiana.

(I know, I know. I hinted at a blog about rain and egos and all manner of interesting things BUT there has been a "technical difficulty" getting the picture I took for that blog out of the camera (okay, so it isn't a technical difficulty, per se - I just don't know how to get the picture out of the camera. You guessed it: somebody else took the picture accompanying this blog) so that blog has to wait until I am no longer a moron. Then, and only then, can it be posted.)