It was morning in Conformity Town when Mr. Docile was awoken by his wife, Ms. Officious, screaming, “Get up and make me pancakes with toast!”

“Ok,” replied Mr. Docile. Because how could he say no? He was always docile.

Mr. Docile dressed in the plain dress shirt and pants that most people in Conformity Town wore. Mr. Docile made his wife breakfast and then headed out the door.

It was grey outside, as it always was. Even the sky wanted to fit in, in his dull town. On his way to work, Mr. Docile saw his friend, Concurring Cleo. They walked and talked about work and things that they agreed on.

When Mr. Docile got to work, Mayor Insatiable (who was never satisfied with anything that Mr. Docile did) gave him papers to copy and fax and he was compliant with the mayor’s instructions.

As he was leaving, Mr. Insatiable asked him to stay at work late to get more done.  Mr. Docile knew that his wife would be expecting him home, but he couldn’t say no to Mayor Insatiable so he told her he would stay.

It was a rainy Monday morning when Mr. Docile’s strange day started. After Ms. Officious ordered Mr. Docile to wake up and make her breakfast, Mr. Docile was looking through his closet to find clothes, but all his regular clothes were at the cleaners. The only thing that was left was a bright orange suit with frill, dots, and stripes.

Ms. Officious had told him to buy it. Mr. Docile fretted; he would definitely stand out in this outfit! That was not a good thing in his town. But he had nothing else so he had to put it on.

When Mr. Docile came downstairs, he made breakfast quickly and hurried out the door. Mr. Docile did not want to be seen in this outfit; it was too different. How would he ever fit in while he was wearing this monstrosity? He looked outside, hoping that nobody would be out and about, but lots of others were on their way to work. As Mr. Docile stepped out the door, he felt all eyes go to his suit. Then, he heard his wife calling him from inside the house. Since he was so docile, he did whatever she said.

“Honey?!!” Ms. Officious screamed. “You need to pick up a newspaper for me at the store.” “Ok,” Mr. Docile replied uncertainly. He didn’t want to go to the store dressed like this, but because he was so docile, he went and picked up a paper anyway.   

When Mr. Docile finally got to work, things got even stranger. The mayor wasn’t in her office; she wasn’t even anywhere in Town Hall. Mr. Docile sat at his tidy desk, waiting for Mayor Insatiable to come and give him instructions, but the mayor never came.

For many days afterward, Mr. Docile obediently sat at his desk, clicking his pen and waiting for the mayor to come, but she never did. Mr. Docile would not stay at home because anyone in the town who didn’t go to work was classified as different. One day, Mr. Docile got word that Mayor Insatiable had quit and decided to move to a more exciting town. Mr. Docile wondered who would lead him now.

Then, he had a thought: what if he ran for mayor? His head quickly shut this idea down. If you were mayor you would stand out AND give instructions to other people. It said. No way! You are too docile, submissive and obedient for that job!

The next day, something changed Mr. Docile’s mind. He was walking in Evergreen Park when he heard Ms. Quidnunc (Who was always gossiping) exclaim, “I just can’t believe that William Whim is running for mayor, I hope someone better runs!” Mr. Docile new that he had to run. William Whim was his enemy and he knew that Whim would make a terrible mayor.

As election day approached, Mr. Docile got even more doubtful about his decision. He took long walks around dreary Conformity Town and wondered what he had gotten into. One day, while Mr. Docile was sitting on a bench outside of the store Forever Alike, Franklin Fortify came and sat next to him. Franklin wore shiny gold pants and a rainbow top.  He was one of the few people in the town who was not into conformity and he always seemed to know how to strengthen people and make them believe in themselves.

“I think you are going to be a great mayor!” said Franklin Fortify.

“You really think so?” said Mr. Docile.

“Of course!” said Franklin. Mr. Docile could feel a smile creeping onto his face. Someone actually believed he would be good at this job. “I really think you could make some real change in this town,” Franklin said.

“Thanks!” Mr. Docile replied, beaming. “You should go put up some ‘Vote for me!’ Posters in town,” Franklin said. Mr. Docile did.

Over the next few days, Mr. Docile walked around town greeting people and telling them to vote for him. Some people looked at him weirdly since they had never seen this side of him before.

On election day, Mr. Docile and William Whim sat in Town Hall while Mrs. Tally, (who was the best counter) counted up the votes. “We have a winner!” she announced. “Mr. Docile, you are now Mayor Docile of Conformity town.” Mr. Docile let out a sigh of relief. He walked over to his new desk and sat down. It was much bigger than his old one and the wood was dark and smooth. He spun around in his wheely chair and looked out at his town. It looked so dull and dreary. No one looked very happy either. He had never noticed this before. While staring out at Conformity Town, Mr. Docile decided on the first change he would make to the town.

The next day, Mayor Docile changed the name of his town to Uniqueville. He went on to inspire the people of his town to be as unique and different as they could. Mayor Docile even changed his last name to Initiative!! At first, people weren’t into it, but soon, everyone wore crazy outfits out and the weather decided it would be different every day. At the end of each workday, Mayor Initiative looked out over Uniqueville and saw a smile on everyone’s face. He knew he had made a change for the better.