Baptism vs. The Mini-Skirt

First Point of View:

I attended a Baptism I was invited to this week but in reality went reluctantly- the parents were not best friends of mine, and I had suspicions to believe that I was invited mostly out of courtesy. So I showed up to the small church, suit, business shirt but no tie, as I wanted to look elegant to show respect, but did not feel that I needed to go the extra mile. As I said hello to the late comers, I begun to notice that not everyone shared the same enthusiasm for fashion as I did, but most of all, I noticed that some had a different vision of how one should approach a Baptism. I had gone to church, many times, and I can tell you that it is sometimes hard to focus on what the priest is saying: there are kids crying, I may not relate to the message, I could be busy criticizing the priest. However, skirts, in particular, extremely short mini-skirts, kind of distract you in a different manner. Now I am not thinking about the Baptism or even church at all, I am thinking… many other distracting things. It becomes a battle of will, focus, and of forehead muscle strength: how long can I look serious and stare straight at the short, displeasing looking priest while ignoring ‘tailored-fit’ mini-skirts….? A couple of this lady say hello, I, continue to be respectful and also greet them.

2nd person:

You reach for the closest suit you can put your hands, grab a shirt that matches, also nearby, and shut the closet door. You finish getting ready, take a deep breath and say to yourself ‘and, why am I going again?’ You drive the speed limit, there is no rush or penalty for being late, the objective is to show respect by being present since you were so ‘cordially’ invited. As you walk in, you greet the people that you recognize and are approached with smiles by some and indifference by others. As you attempt to focus on what the pries is saying in this very small church space, you notice that there are several late comers, additionally, you notice that some lack a standard sense of fashion, to say the least. You continue to look cool, you don’t make faces, you try to focus on the Baptism taking place. However, without warning, you see legs, moving fast, some moving slowly, all wrapped in a fashionable design called the mini-skirt. The battle is on, you try your best not to focus on this fashion statement, in fact, and you muster a certain amount of skill and discipline in order to keep looking straight at a displeasing looking priest, keeping your eyebrows semi-frowned, attempting to ignore ‘tailored-fit’ mini-skirts. You are started once again, as 2 of this ladies say hello. You are respectful, and say hello as well.

3rd person:

After some thought, he decides to pick the suit and shirt that is closest to his reach and shuts the closet door. He was dressing slower than usual since he was attending a Baptism which he really didn’t want to go to- he wasn’t good friends with the parents of the soon to be Baptized baby, but, he was invited to attend anyways. So his decision to wear that particular suit, shirt and avoid the tie revolved along the lines of attempting to be respectful, but not necessarily feeling that he had to go the extra mile. After finally getting ready, he takes a long sigh, and walks out of the door. As he enters the small church, he makes sure to be polite and say hello to everyone that he recognized, even if some of them did not necessarily jump up when they saw him. He was not concerned too much about that, his mission was to be respectful, not to have a good time or enjoy this in any way. As the late comers walked in, he began to see a pattern which alerted him a bit, some people did not share the same ‘fashion-values’ as he did, in fact somewhere really just terribly dressed. Attempting not to be distracted by this, he continues to listen to the priest. However, just as soon as he begins to intake the first 2 or 3 sentences from the mouth of the priest, he is totally caught off guard by a significant amount of ladies that just walked in. Without saying any words what so ever, other than a polite hello, they are saying: “watch out people, here comes my beautiful legs”. He attempts to ignore this fashion statement, to say the least, but he is distracted never the less. Summoning inner strength and courage, he takes a deep breath, and looks straight forward again at the displeasing looking priest. As he frowns a bit, attempting to focus on the Baptism and show respect, he is once again distracted as a couple of these ladies say hello to him. He recognized them and promptly says hi to them as well, respectfully so.

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My impression of how the tone of voice changes was that as I wrote in 2nd person, I found it very easy to be playful and wrote that paragraph very fast. When I wrote in 3rd person, I felt that I had to give more detail for some reason, and pay attention not only as to what the character was doing but also ‘why’ he was doing it. First person was also kind of easy since it was something that I was remembering. Nothing else really stands out as far as point of view at this moment.