G-Sync – Sometimes It Takes Lipstick

I should have known that as some point in my life, I would be called to assume the role of the comic to achieve the greater good.

My casting call arrived three weeks ago when Tommy FitzGerald phoned me to ask if I could play a lunch lady at the Juice Ball — his birthday party/fundraiser for Kids Food Basket.

“Are the other ladies dressing up?” I inquired over the phone.

“They will have aprons and may wear hairnets,” FitzGerald answered, then added “But you can just come as yourself.”

“I think it will look odd if I am not dressed up as well, so let me work up something special for you,” I replied.

My next conversation was with the Kostume Room in Wyoming, where they knew exactly what would I need to pull off a convincing lunch lady look.  

And while I was inspired to pick the ultimate outfit by my mother’s love of color, I’m proud to admit some final touches that made the ensemble work came from me entirely.

And this is where lipstick comes in.

Simply put, I learned that you need to crank up the amps on any transformation to make it effective — be it personal or community wide.   

For example, Tommy FitzGerald was nothing short of a genius in his approach to the Juice Ball, in one night showing us all again how to put the FUN back into fundraising with his net of more than $21,000 (and counting) from this first event.

My hope is that all of us, metaphorically speaking, need to don some bright red lipstick once in a while to move our community forward.  

Although it sounds like a call to cross-dressing, what I am saying is to build a more vibrant metro area, we can’t be afraid to move out of our comfort zone. We need the courage to risk losing an old and maybe constraining image, to laugh with each other as we try new things.

As the photos floating in cyberspace show with the Juice Ball, great things can happen when we let our hairnets down.

Sometimes it simply takes lipstick.

Choose local…and often.

Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor

Email:  RapidGSync@gmail.com
Twitter Guide: @TommyGSync

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Photo provided by Michael Buck for Grand Rapids Social Diary

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