Ask DJ Lyons: Bozo the Clown Memory

Does anybody remember Bozo the Clown?

I had an encounter with Bozo the Clown back when I was in the sixth grade. My Girl Scout troupe of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders decided to attend the taping of a Bozo the Clown show located in the city where I grew up: Kingsport, Tennessee. Well, I will qualify that to say I lived in Kingsport from fourth through twelfth grade. Before that, I lived in Rochester, New York.

We arrived in time for the show. If I recall correctly, it probably aired from 4:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon. Perhaps it was later. All the kids in our elementary school seemed to know about this based on the comments we received the next day. My elementary school was called Dickson Elementary School that was part of the Kingsport City School district in Tennessee.

At some point during the show, the camera man panned his camera around on all of our faces. Then, as fate or chance or bad luck would have it, the camera landed again on me. That meant that I had the dubious honor to get out of my seat in the bleachers and join Bozo the Clown front and center. They put this scratchy navy blue wool jacket around me. As I recall, it had a rather unpleasant smell to it. I don't think I got any prizes. During this time, Bozo the Clown thought he would be funny and put me in a headlock. This was awkward and uncomfortable. For one thing, I was wearing my Girl Scout uniform which was a dress. I also wore braises and was having a rather "bad hair" year. I must have looked ridiculous. I know I felt humiliated. I don't believe I was looked on with envy by any of my fellow Girl Scouts. They probably all felt relieved that it wasn't them.

The next day when I returned to school, my boyfriend and many of the other kids in our school made various comments. My boyfriend was kind about it. The other kids were less-than-kind. I did my best to laugh it all off.

I never have been overly excited about clowns. Perhaps this is part of the reason why.

What made me recall this memory is the following:

As my husband and I were driving home from eating out at a restaurant, we started discussing a CSI show we had seen recently that featured a clown as the featured criminal. I all of a sudden recalled that day back when I was in the sixth grade and related that story to my husband.

In turn, he told me an anecdote that he heard from his first wife. This is how I recall his story:

"My ex-wife, when she was a little girl, loved watching the Bozo the Clown show. One day, this one little girl was called up front to join Bozo the Clown. As he did his routine with the little girl, she finally got fed up. She apparently said a little more harshly than I will write, “STUFF IT, Clown! You’re not funny anymore!” The first word of her quote was a lot less polite sounding than what I wrote – not that what I wrote is polite."

I laughed when he told me that story. I also was a bit envious. She at least had the courage to stand up to him. I don't think she did it in a great way. But I wondered how I could have stood up to him in a more polite yet firm way. Any ideas? Short of refusing to be his guinea pig, what could I have done?

Does anybody else have a Bozo the Clown or some other kind of clown story to share? Also, what are your suggestions of how I could have avoided him putting me in a headlock? If you have any ideas or your own clown memories to relate, please share in the comment section at the bottom of his hub.

 Does anybody share my views of being a little unnerved when you see a clown face. I don't recall feeling this way when I attended circus shows years ago. I don't know whether it stemmed from that fateful day I was selected to be Bozo the Clown's "victim." It was quite unsettling to have this benign-looking clown grab me and kind of collar me. It was humilating to have my dubious "sophisticated" image tampered with in front of the current viewing office and for the televisoin office.

I remember in my early 20's going to the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" for the first time. If I remember correctly, I went to see it on Halloween night. It was unnerving to see all these people in disguise wandering around acting in ways they would not act normally. It made me wonder if they let the clown-face or the disguise as an excuse to commit crimes or play pranks on others. I loved the musical but felt intimidated by some of the people in the audience. Then when I left the theater to go to my home, I ran into all kinds of other people in disguise. I lived in St. Louis, Missouri, at the time. I recall feeling rather frightened.

Since then, I can recall being spooked by the Chucky doll. Plus, on CSI and other similar shows, every now and then, the bank robber or kidnapper will be somebody wearing a mask or clown get-up.

So all in all, I am not that comfortable being around people who dress up like clowns.

How about you? How do you feel about clowns? Like them? Love them? Scared of them? Bored by them? Want to be like them? Etc. I would love to hear your viewpoints.