Beauty Queens

So I got a really cool opportunity this weekend. I was asked to be a judge for the Miss/Teen Blue River competition in Saline County, NE. My radio alter-ego Sue Bayou is still recognized in some areas and they thought that I might know a thing or two about talent and asked me to be a judge.

I drove down to a little town called Crete, NE. The pageant was being held at the town's Catholic school/church, and when I got there, there was no where to park. I figured a beauty pageant is a pretty big deal in a small town and figured that everyone was there to cheer on their next door neighbors.

I walk into this big room and it is packed with people standing in line at a buffet. Strange. I didn't realize beauty pageants had buffets, but this was a small town and so I guessed that every event included a buffet. And then I realized, I wasn't at the beauty pageant....I was at a funeral. The church had double-booked two events. The Miss Blue River Competition was upstairs in the gym, this was a funeral for a former Cretian. (And yes, when you leave the town of Crete voluntarily, you become an ex-cretian.)

It's a good thing that I realized that something wasn't quite right. Could you imagine the horror if I had walked up to the bereaved and told them that I was here to judge? Yeah, St. Peter couldn't make it, so I'm here to judge.

I finally figured everything out and made it upstairs in time for the talent portion of the pageant. What a fantastic group of young women, willing to put it out there for not just an audience to see, but to be judged. For someone they don't even know to give them a number and to have those numbers added up, tallied. And then to face the rejection of not winning. There could only be one winner and one runner-up. Everyone else was a loser.

Or maybe not. As I looked at the faces at the end of the competition, I could see that these young women were not in this competition to win it. I'm sure that they would love to be the one in the crown with the sash and the flowers. But they were in the competition, just to compete. They loved trying to win. It was the challenge of getting over the fear and the inhibition that they took pride in the most. These were incredibly strong and beautiful young women and I just know that by taking that stage, by putting themselves out there, they all were winners not only on Saturday, but that they will be winners their whole lives.

I feel like I am judged all the time. As a mother, as a wife, as a housekeeper, as a potential job candidate. And it's not a good feeling. There's nervousness, trepidation and a constant self-questioning. But at least I'm out there on the stage. At least I'm trying. And if I'm trying, I can only be a winner. And if all else fails, I can go to the dollar store and buy my own tiara.