OK, parents.  This is where you get to chime in with some real world advice for us mascots.

A friend of mine was at an appearance, and was signing t-shirts, when a kid comes up with a short sleeve polo shirt on.  This friend of mine decided he didn’t want to ruin the shirt (the t-shirts the others were wearing were from a camp, so it’s a safe bet that no one will have a problem with a signature on those) but he also didn’t want the kid walking away empty-handed.  So in a split-second decision, he signed the kid’s forehead.

Now, you might ask yourself, “Out of all of the parts on a kid you can sign, why the forehead?”  Well, I never asked my friend that question, but here’s what I thought to myself when I asked myself that question.  “Miles, the forehead makes a good autograph spot for many reasons, let me list them out for you…me…us.

• “It’s a solid, even surface (ever tried to sign a flabby arm? total nightmare!)”
• “Accessibility — Most youngsters’ heads are a perfect height, pretty much desk level.
• “Location, Location, Location — You have to appreciate how visible your autograph is to other people on the forehead.
• “Non-permanence — Sure, he could have signed an arm, hand, leg.  But look at it this way.  If a parent is going to get mad that you signed their kid’s skin with a permanent marker, it’s probably because it will be there for a while.  Now with your typical sweaty, greasy youngster, permanent marker is going to last all of about 2-3 hours before it gets wiped off, or just “disappears.”  A signature on the arm or hand will probably last a couple days.”"

So, if your kid came home with a Miles signature on their forehead, would you be steamed?

(Of course the Miles signature is just for argument’s sake.  I would NEVER do anything like that…).

And let’s say on the off chance that it did happen, consider that the mascot was just trying to save you from spending money on more clothes that they will grow out of in 4 months.

Miles
#00

P.S.  I had to ask our publications guy how to properly quote the mess that was me talking to myself in answer form.  Sometimes I just don’t get the English Language.

Tags: Autographs, Body parts, NFL Mascots, Permanent marker

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