My Scary Carrot Story…

Good morning everyone,

Hope you’re all keeping well 🙂

When I was growing up, my parents told me that I could be whatever I wanted in life, so, I decided to be a carrot. This may sound like I have finally lost the plot, however, we’re going to be taking a look at “My Scary Carrot” story in today’s blog – hopefully, it’ll all make a lot more sense by the end!

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

One of my first jobs was as a Lifeguard and Swimming Teacher at my local pool, Pontardawe Swimming Pool, where I worked for around five years. I had so much fun in the role, meeting people from all walks of life, all the while making some fantastic stories, one of which we’ll take a look at today.

Around seven years ago, in the run-up to Halloween 2017, our pool decided to throw a party for all the kids in our academy. We thought it could be a lot of fun, giving parents and kids alike the chance to relax, have fun and make some lovely memories. We, as staff, got asked if we’d like to go, to which we and a couple of colleagues thought would be a good laugh, so we said, why not?!

I thought that I could make the party a little bit more special, so instead of picking my own costume, I went for a more unconventional route. I asked the kids in each of my classes what they wanted me to go as, a very risky idea, I know!

During one of my Saturday morning classes, one of my swimmers, a 5-year-old called Jack, had an idea. I taught Jack for around two years or so, first starting in the small pool before he moved up to the bigger pool as he got more confident. He had this super cheeky personality, which reminded me a lot of when I was younger – it was an infectious attitude to have spread through your classes.

He tapped me and asked, “Sir, can you come as a carrot?” After a couple of minutes, Jack started laughing hysterically and changed his original response to “No, actually, can you come as a scary carrot, please?”. He had a huge smile on his face as he asked this, so, what did I decide to go and do?🥕

Yep, that’s right, I went on Amazon and bought myself a carrot costume, alongside a scary mask, to really add to the ‘fright factor’. Do you need proof? Well, here you go:

Yeah… you should have seen Jack’s face when I walked into the party, he was absolutely bouncing 😂

You should have seen how much Jack loved coming along to lessons after the party, he was always smiling, chuckling away to himself. He was a sheer pleasure to teach, who couldn’t say yes to such an innocent child, who was wetting himself laughing thinking of his teacher dressed up as a vegetable.

Looking back, I am so glad that I went along with this idea. I like to bring this story back up every Halloween. It’s such a nice, wholesome story that never fails to bring a smile to my face. Sometimes it’s the smallest and silliest of things that sticks with you throughout life’s many twists and turns.

Before you ask, no, I don’t think I still have this costume at home. You never know though, maybe it could make an appearance again in future – it depends on how scary Halloween gets over the next few years 😉

That’s all for today’s blog, what do you think? Are you a fan of Halloween? What’s something funny you’ve done for someone?

I’d love to hear your thoughts ⤵️

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day!