Miss-Delectable
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NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas' News Source
Drivers will no longer see the smiling face of Cheryl Rust on the corner of Eighth and Walnut streets, where she waved while wearing a clown suit rainbowcolored wig and sign declaring “ Halloween Express Now Open. ”
As shoppers swarmed to the seasonal store in the weekend preceding Halloween, Rust was pulled inside, where she worked beside her daughter C. J. handing out costumes for customers to try on.
Rust said it’s fun working inside the store, where she wore a veil on Friday and devil horns on Saturday, but she missed making children smile in her clown suit. She said she will miss working at Halloween Express when it closes Friday.
“ It’s a lot of fun. I’ve smiled more on this job than any other job I’ve ever done, ” she said.
Before starting at Halloween Express in September, Rust hadn’t worked in more than two years.
The 42-year-old Rogers woman spent 28 years in food service and occasionally worked as a cosmetologist. But she quit a few years ago when her father became ill, and it was then that she faced how much her hearing had degenerated. As a child, she had a high fever caused by the measles and several ear infections that left her partially deaf. She said her condition worsened over the years, and she has lost 75 percent of her hearing in both ears.
Rust said she can’t carry on a conversation in a crowded room and often asks “ pardon ?” and explains her hearing problem when people talk to her. She tested her cell phone and home telephone before buying them, she listens to the television at top volume, and when she watches her 6-month-old and 18-month-old grandsons, she sleeps next to them so their kicking wakes her up because their cries can’t.
“ I’ve learned to live with this, ” Rust said, adding that a doctor warned her years ago that she would one day be completely deaf.
And while walking outside Halloween Express, waving to eastbound traffic piling up at the busy intersection, then whirling around to catch westbound drivers when the light turned green, she couldn’t hear the occasional rude comments, and she said she ignored the rude gestures.
Rust lives with friends and her daughters in Rogers in the house she inherited from her father. Her housemates pay rent and buy groceries. She said that in the last few years, her husband, parents and some cousins died. She paid medical bills with her husband’s life insurance money and supported her children and grandchildren, Rust said.
She said her daughter convinced her to apply for the job. C. J. said her mother had the right attitude and sense of humor, while the first two employees to try waving to passersby didn’t last a day.
Rust said children have posed for pictures with her dressed as a clown and her picture has already been in two newspapers.
“ I’m enjoying the job, and the attention is a ‘ thank you ’ to me, ” she said.
Rust said she is planning to find another seasonal job to ease back into full-time work.
On Tuesday, the Rust family is going to have their first Halloween party. Rust said she bought two costumes from the store, and each person in her house now has at least one to wear.
“ You’ve got to live life while you have it, ” Rust said. “ Make the best of it. ”
Drivers will no longer see the smiling face of Cheryl Rust on the corner of Eighth and Walnut streets, where she waved while wearing a clown suit rainbowcolored wig and sign declaring “ Halloween Express Now Open. ”
As shoppers swarmed to the seasonal store in the weekend preceding Halloween, Rust was pulled inside, where she worked beside her daughter C. J. handing out costumes for customers to try on.
Rust said it’s fun working inside the store, where she wore a veil on Friday and devil horns on Saturday, but she missed making children smile in her clown suit. She said she will miss working at Halloween Express when it closes Friday.
“ It’s a lot of fun. I’ve smiled more on this job than any other job I’ve ever done, ” she said.
Before starting at Halloween Express in September, Rust hadn’t worked in more than two years.
The 42-year-old Rogers woman spent 28 years in food service and occasionally worked as a cosmetologist. But she quit a few years ago when her father became ill, and it was then that she faced how much her hearing had degenerated. As a child, she had a high fever caused by the measles and several ear infections that left her partially deaf. She said her condition worsened over the years, and she has lost 75 percent of her hearing in both ears.
Rust said she can’t carry on a conversation in a crowded room and often asks “ pardon ?” and explains her hearing problem when people talk to her. She tested her cell phone and home telephone before buying them, she listens to the television at top volume, and when she watches her 6-month-old and 18-month-old grandsons, she sleeps next to them so their kicking wakes her up because their cries can’t.
“ I’ve learned to live with this, ” Rust said, adding that a doctor warned her years ago that she would one day be completely deaf.
And while walking outside Halloween Express, waving to eastbound traffic piling up at the busy intersection, then whirling around to catch westbound drivers when the light turned green, she couldn’t hear the occasional rude comments, and she said she ignored the rude gestures.
Rust lives with friends and her daughters in Rogers in the house she inherited from her father. Her housemates pay rent and buy groceries. She said that in the last few years, her husband, parents and some cousins died. She paid medical bills with her husband’s life insurance money and supported her children and grandchildren, Rust said.
She said her daughter convinced her to apply for the job. C. J. said her mother had the right attitude and sense of humor, while the first two employees to try waving to passersby didn’t last a day.
Rust said children have posed for pictures with her dressed as a clown and her picture has already been in two newspapers.
“ I’m enjoying the job, and the attention is a ‘ thank you ’ to me, ” she said.
Rust said she is planning to find another seasonal job to ease back into full-time work.
On Tuesday, the Rust family is going to have their first Halloween party. Rust said she bought two costumes from the store, and each person in her house now has at least one to wear.
“ You’ve got to live life while you have it, ” Rust said. “ Make the best of it. ”