In the world today we all have our pictures taken daily. Nearly everywhere and nearly all day long. Well hopefully not in bathrooms. You just need to assume cameras are everywhere. I am not a fan of the picture taking world. I have come to realize that no matter what you look like in your head, the camera certainly does not lie. On top of that, those sneaky cameras like to enhance the truth by adding extra bumps and wrinkles and blotches to us all. So smile, it’s always picture time! As the wonderful new school year approaches, for those who still go to school from September to June and not the “year around” school schedule of three months on and one off. Oh, wait I just have to chime in here. Who thought of that schedule? Whoever it was, never heard of or sang at the top of their lungs as they made an escape from school come June, the Alice Cooper song “School’s Out.” You sang it to yourself, didn’t you? I did for sure dude! OK, I feel better now that’s out of the way. Again, as the wonderful new school year approaches, I would like to talk of something that happens when the bells of the school year begin ringing. Of course, nothing can compare to buying a new winter coat in mid-August while going on the annual shopping excursion of getting new school clothes. I think it could be construed as a bit of mom revenge making their little ones stand in a hot-as-an-oven department store in August trying on coat after coat. As I think of it now, we usually did that coat stuff first. It may have been a way of wearing us down before we started the whole mind-numbing event. Oh, and let’s not even talk about the underwear section. That trip was before school started though. I want to talk about something that happens when school starts up. That momentous event of course, picture taking day! AARRGGHH. Yes, I saw you wrinkle your nose and shake your head in remembrance. But! Yes, a not so picture perfect “but.” Without national school studios, which is now known as Lifetouch, how could we now-a-day much more mature humans ever prove that there were schools WAY back in the last century and beyond! And that we did attend some sort of structured school for all those years of our misspent youth. How indeed. “Picture Day” was, when we were very young, I’m talking elementary school, when we showed up in our best everything. Probably even wearing crisp new underwear. Mothers primed and propped us up like we were the Ziegfeld Girls. We were all as the actress who I have read would have said, “All right Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” Yes, long ago close ups. Most of the time when the click and flash captured us, we all looked like we were roadkill. Well, I did anyway. Year after year. Except when I was in kindergarten. That was only half a day school, so I had a chance to keep my Shirley Temple curls in line for that length of time. Then as we grew in stature and grade level, picture day was a great way to get out of at least one class and if someone caused a ruckus, maybe two. All those years of short hair, long hair on both guys and girls. Pimples and class clowns. Crooked smiles and the occasional snort caught forever more. Eyes open too much, maybe just slits of eyeballs or eyes closed altogether. Every shot to be printed and stuffed into yearbooks for all eternity. And just when you thought you had seen it all? Oh then? Senior pictures. The senior picture is something special. It is like a rite of passage to get a full grown-up spread of yourself as a senior in high school. I look back at high school yearbooks and I still have no idea how my friends all ended up with the fancy pictures and mine is just a regular picture. Me being as geeky as always. Guess I was destine to just be me. I like that we are all some sort of “what ya see is what ya get” people. That’s what I want to leave you with today. Being that individual who over time never changes from being exactly not only who we are but who others tend to see us as. How cool is that? Oh, very cool indeed. Smile. Click. Close-up forever. Trina Machacek lives in Eureka. Her books are available online or email her at itybytrina@yahoo.com to buy a signed copy.
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