Happy Jackets

Happiness has always been known for its great sportsmanship and being good people. Our director always tells us that no matter how well we do in a competition, we always, always, always need to be good people first. That reputation matters more to him than a trophy.

I personally completely agree with him on this subject. It’s important for people to see us as good people and for us to be liked and looked up to in that way. Directors of other schools have used us as an example for their kids. They tell them to act like us. We have those bright yellow Happiness jackets on and are extremely easy to spot, so it’s easy to know if Happiness as a whole aren’t being good people.

There has always been a 12 year old tradition that Protégé kids wear Happiness member’s jackets while Happiness performs. There’s always so much clambering around to get everyone a jacket to wear. It’s always a relief seeing those bright yellow jackets in the front two rows when we first get on stage. This will be no more for the rest of the year.

Two members of Protégé were wearing a Happiness jacket while watching another group’s show. While watching, they decided to point at one of the members on stage and laugh. I was told it wasn’t in a negative way, they were complimenting, but by pointing and laughing, it was taken the wrong way. The two girls were sitting next to one of the parents of a member in the group. Unfortunately, he took is the wrong way and got the impression the two girls were making fun of something in the show. The father wrote a strongly worded e-mail to our director to inform him of the act. He wasn’t mean or hateful in anyway, just a little upset by the events that had happened.

Our director wasn’t extremely mad by this, just a little saddened. He talked to Happiness about it and decided for the rest of the year that no one would wear Happiness jackets unless they are a member of Happiness. If he caught anyone else wearing a jacket, the person who was wearing it and the owner of the jacket would get talked to. He did this because he believes the members of Happiness get that we need to keep the reputation we have and some of the Protégé kids don’t. If the reputation is going to be ruined, let it be ruined by a person actually in Happiness, not by one not even in it. He’s willing to give it another try next year, but for the rest of the year, we aren’t allowed to give our jackets away.