Now that I’m well into my year as Miss Oklahoma, I’ve accumulated some pretty entertaining stories along the way. And what good is a funny story if you don’t share it with anyone?
My very first “blooper” was at my first official Miss O school visit in Lomega. I had put on a new pair of dress jeans that I washed and dried the night before. My traveling companion, Ms. Freddie and I drove about 2 hours to the school and then unloaded all of my prizes and materials. As we are walking into the school, Ms. Freddie grabbed my arm and said “uh-oh honey, we have a problem…you’re jeans have split by your pocket.” Great. I cannot exactly walk into a school with a hole in my brand new jeans, much less on my back pockets. So we tie my sweater around my waist…throwback to the 80’s! Ms. Freddie asks the secretary if they have a sewing kit, they didn’t have one of course so I asked if they had duct tape. Yes, we duct taped my jeans from the inside just like a patch, and I wore them that way to 4 school assemblies. The moral of this story is that you learn a lot of things growing up on a farm, responsibility, dedication, work ethic…and the simple fact that everything can be fixed with bailing wire or duct tape, even Miss Oklahoma’s jeans!
I’ve also been asked some pretty funny questions at schools and appearances.
1. I love to call students up to ask questions at the end of assemblies and I pulled out a young boy who couldn’t be older than 1st grade. I could tell he was thinking really hard about what he was going to ask and when I finally got to him he froze for a second with a terrified look and then softy asked, “Am I going to pass my spelling test on Friday?”
2. When I’m asking questions with the younger elementary students I always remind them that a question is something they want to ask Miss OK, not something they want to tell me or a story. Of course the first few still told me stories or something they liked, so I reiterated I was looking for questions or something they wanted to ask. Then I called on a kindergarten boy in the front row. And his question was, “Did you know…..that I like trains?” Well, I have to give him credit, that technically was a question!
3. I was visiting the Tulsa State Fair for Mobile Dairy Demonstrations and I was putting my sash and crown on in the bathroom. A lady came in and stopped dead in her tracks. “Are you really Miss Oklahoma?” “Yes ma’am.” “No, but are you really?” I kind of laughed and said “Yes, I’ll compete for Miss America in January.” “But are you sure you’re really Miss Oklahoma?” Ok, at this point I’m not sure if I should laugh or be offended…do I not look like I could be Miss Oklahoma? 🙂 I’m not sure that she didn’t want me to tell her that I decided to dress like this for the fair and that my crown came from Ebay!
4. At an Elementary school, I went to call on a 1st grader who was wearing a white shirt with orange letters that read “OKLAHOMA STATE” so I said, “The young lady in the white Oklahoma State shirt.” She crossed her arms and let out an exasperated sigh and said” it’s OSU.”
5. I use a call back strategy at school assemblies for elementary when the students start to get loud where I say the school name then they yell out their mascot, we repeat it a few times and then I when I have their attention I continue on with my assembly. I was explaining this to a group of students and when I used it during the assembly I kept wondering to myself what they were yelling as their mascot because I couldn’t understand it. At the end of the assembly I asked a teacher and she laughed and said, “they misunderstood you and when you said the school name they yelled “MASCOT!”
Other funny questions:
6. “Will you go to Prom with me?” -Sr. High school boy
7. “What shampoo do you use?” -Middle school boy
8. “Did it hurt…when you fell from heaven?” -Middle school boy
9. “Do you wear your crown when you drive and go to Wal-Mart?” -Middle school girl
10. “Do you live in a castle?” -4th grade girl
missbetty.org 