Birthday Tails

Eddie’s Birthday Party

I was six years old when I attended my best friend Eddie Craig birthday party who lived across the street. There are about 15 kids at the party and Eddie’s mom Edith was going a little crazy trying to keep everybody happy. Back in those days we didn’t have the clown bounce and super Mario Brothers to calm the sugar-based energies of fifteen six year olds. What we did have was a game called pin the tail on the donkey. The game consisted of a poster size print of a donkey without a tail, the object of the game was to take a paper tail with a thumbtack and with a blindfold, spin around and see if you pin your paper tail the anatomically correct position on the donkey. Edith had only eight tails and no one was willing to share a tail so a crisis was unfolding. Without hesitation she looked at me and said, Russ, do something! Make some tales, we need seven more.  Such a command from an adult to a six-year-old was overwhelmingly liberating. I felt that I had free license to rant through their house, using whatever paper, pins and scissors I felt necessary to perform my assignment. In short order I had seven beautifully colored donkey tails, complete with thumbtack that were brighter and better than the ones included with the party game.

 The interesting part about this experience was why Mrs. Craig picked me for the assignment.  This was the first time I can remember that I could be a “take-charge” kind of guy. Was it a natural instinct for leadership or just a gullible go fetch- it experience?

 I do remember that in most social situations in my childhood, I would inevitably be the leader of the club, or the one chosen to solve a problem. At the time I recall not of the leadership aspects of this experience, but the pride that I had displayed my obviously superior seven donkey tails.