It was Ronald McDonald’s eyes that haunted me.

I had been walking toward the entrance of one of the four McDonald’s franchises in my town when I glanced at the cartoon clown logo in the window and let out a scream. Just a little scream, but I still frightened one little girl on the sidewalk so badly that she screamed, too. One middle-aged man in a baseball cap who had been strolling toward the entrance behind me very discreetly turned on his heels and walked the other way. I felt like a jackass.