You never know who someone is in their secret life

I never *got* Halloween. From my medievalist years I had lots of costumes, and loved an opportunity to wear them. But they would always ask what I was. "The Snow Queen? Lady Night?" "Huh? I'm just me. Twelfth century, daughter of a country knight. One new outfit a year. It's part of what I do to make the new clothes for everyone in the household." "Huh?"

Then when I worked outdoors in the nursery, after a couple of years of trailing my (washable tourney) hems through the mud, one year I thought I'd wear this. Easy. Everyday clothes, uniform shirt, and my pierced circlet. I was hoping for some double-takes.

One gentleman customer asked me who I was. "Oh, just me. What I wear everyday. You never know who someone is in their secret life." I'm not sure if he had seen the circlet, or not until I walked away. It's even funnier that way.

Everyone is the hero of their own story.