Today I worked as Clifford the Big Red Dog at the Golden Triangle mall in Denton. I spent a good hour dressed up in a thick hot dog outfit, waving to all the little children, giving out hugs, rolling around on the ground, wagging my tail, and getting hit from all directions by a barrage of little bodies.

I got paid $10.00 an hour. My nickname was Clifford or “Dog Guy.” Everyone that works at the Denton mall is really nice.

It was 11:30 a.m. when I knocked on the mall office door. A man wearing a security guard outfit opened the door and ushered me in. My boss shook my hand and welcomed me to the mall office. She asked how the whole process worked and I told her about my time sheet. She was a pretty 24 year old blond woman with a hint of a country accent. We talked for about an hour before they brought the dog costume down. She liked a lot of the same music as I did so I gave her my email address.

I got in the dog suit and went down to Barnes and Noble bookstore. From there I meet up with Richard, the guy who reads to little kids every week from the stage they have set up in the children’s section. He had a speaker on wheels and we took off into the mall. We ran the length of the mall, waving at the little kids and getting them all excited. We had a line of tots running behind us, reaching out with their arms as they ran. After the whole mall had been sprinkled with the magic Clifford dust, we went to a roped off area where they kids had to join a club to come see me. It cost their parents $5 bucks, and everyone had to come see Clifford. Their child would never forgive them if they just passed by without saying hello. As soon as I made it to the roped off area it started. Hundreds of kids were all pushed into the little area. Many of them waited in line for a balloon animal. Others colored pictures on some tables they had set up. The balloon guy made everyone balloon swords and all the kids started to hit me with them. Before I knew it I had 15 kids hitting me from all sides. My boss told him not to make swords anymore so he started making hats.

We played Simon Says and the guy Richard with the speaker read a Clifford book while me and all the kids sat on the floor and listened. I took pictures with kid after kid. Parents would come up and make me hold their babies. I couldn’t see anything below my nose in the suit, so I had to feel around the best I could and try not to drop the baby. I feared for the babies life at times. One girl wanted more than one hug, and throughout the hour I gave her at least 40 good squeezes.

I learned the rules of being a costume character for kids real fast. The first couple of kids I messed with looked into my eyes a little too long and discovered the horrible secret. This wasn’t Clifford the Big Red dog but a man in a suit. Some of them would run off screaming and crying, not understanding why something like this could ever happen. Others would just point and start yelling at their parents that this was in fact a person and not the Clifford they had been promised.

After 45 minutes the suit was extremely hot. Sweat poured from every orifice on my body. The dog was saturated. I took it off and my boss took one look at me and said “damn.” She didn’t make me put it back on. She took me to Racetrack and bought me a soda.

That is the day I was Clifford the Big Red Dog at the mall.

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