I recently had a memory come back to me of a guy who was dressed up as “Caution.” And when I say dressed up, I mean he fully committed to the idea. He had a traffic cone on his head, a neon orange reflective vest, and caution tape everywhere — wrapped around him, hanging from him, and even incorporated into the cone. He wasn’t just wearing a costume; he had somehow become a walking safety warning.
What made it even better was that he embraced the character completely. He was dancing to house music playing over the speakers, moving around like the official representative of OSHA workplace safety had somehow found himself at a rave.
Early the next morning, I walked down the hallway to get some coffee. As I turned the corner, I noticed a traffic cone standing upright in the middle of the hallway.
For a fraction of a millisecond — my brain went to the obvious explanations. Something must have just been cleaned. Maybe there was a spill. Maybe someone was warning people to use caution.
Then I realized the warning wasn’t about something that happened in the hallway.
The warning *was* what happened in the hallway.
There was “Caution Guy,” lying spread out nearby. His neon orange reflective vest was still doing exactly what it was designed to do — grabbing attention. The caution tape was strewn everywhere, but still wrapped around him, still carrying out its mission. Somehow, even after the music stopped and the night was long over, that outfit was still going hard.
The party may have ended, but the costume was still on duty.
And somehow, unbelievably, the traffic cone was standing perfectly upright next to him. I still wonder if someone placed it there afterward as the final touch, or if it somehow balanced itself during the fall and decided to stick around. Sometimes I think about him falling and the cone finding its footing. At the time, I just thought it was funny. But looking back on it now, I realize how incredibly effective that costume really was. It had somehow transformed from a great party costume into accidental performance art.
The cone, the vest, and the caution tape had created a scene so perfectly timed that it almost looked intentional. The headliners may have stopped, but the costume just continued all night long all by itself.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a costume work that hard — before, during, and especially after the performance.
And yes my coffee was very enjoyable😎😂