Over the course of the past couple of days I have spent entirely too much time out in public. I’m used to my 8 hours of being secluded away from the rest of the world with my job and don’t have much interaction with the outside world unless it’s election time or I have to go to a place where there is a bigger percentage of people. It’s not that I am not a social butterfly – it’s just that when you work a job that is just you and another person all day your interaction skills aren’t what they used to be.
During my time of being with the public I have made several observations and have come to a conclusion about something. Women just don’t take pride in themselves like they used to. Women today (not all but A LOT of them) really could care less what they look like when they go out of the house. It’s really quite embarrassing to the female race to see so many women not caring about their appearance and how they present themselves.
Have you ever just took a seat at your local Wal-Mart and observed some of the women that come in there? I can’t believe that a woman can actually leave the security and privacy of her home and go shopping in Sponge Bob pajama pants, camouflage flip flops and a Dale Earnhardt T-shirt from one his first races – and not feel bad about it. Now I realize that not every woman can afford to go to Belk or Macy’s to do their shopping; in fact I can’t. But is it too much to ask of yourself to at least match when you walk outside to greet the outside world? I admit that sometimes I go to the store with my hair whipped up in an attempt of a messy bun and at times during the summer I even brave it and go without make-up. But there is just no excuse for a woman these days to look like some of these women do. And don’t even let me get started on the women that “should be wearing” something from the plus side of the women’s section but instead they are making a feeble attempt to squeeze into a pair of short shorts that require a search warrant to find where they begin and end.
I have tried through the years to emphasize to my girls how important it is to “pretty yourself up” – sometimes they listen and sometimes they don’t. I don’t want to ever encourage them that looks are what is important – but rather the image that you present.
I am a single mom as I have established several times. I don’t have a lot of extra money for maintenance on myself, but I at least improvise. I do for the most part color my own hair. Sometimes this works out and I get compliments and praise – other times not so much – then it’s a ball cap or staying inside until the legal time limit is over (according to the box of hair color on sale that week) and I’m allowed to attempt it again. I’ve had maroon hair, yellow hair, orange and even a hint of green in it before. I make several attempts to wax the places that didn’t have hair before menopause and sometimes my chin and more cheek looks a little red like I’ve just been in a fight and suffered some blows to face. I even attempted the Listerine/Vinegar soak to make my feet look better which resulted in a slight discoloration of the skin for a while. The point is that it just takes a little effort to look presentable. I may not look ravishing when I go out in public, but I at least don’t want to have a look that would make a freight train take a dirt road.
I wish that we still had women like Jackie Kennedy that made women want to take pride in the way that they looked by the way that she presented herself. Even if it was in a pair of Capri's on the beach, she still had class and made you take notice of her. I hate to say it, but now the only women that there are for other females to follow their suit are women that have had so much Botox and liposuction that you don’t know what’s real and what isn’t.
Now I’m not trying to pick on the female population and leave the men totally out of this equation; because let me tell you I could write a chapter or two on some of the men I see too. But that’s for another day and another blog.
Let’s just do the female race a favor and try to encourage the women in our lives to strive to live up to what a lady should be and how she should present herself. Granted I know you can’t convince some women that there is more to life than a banana clip and spandex (that is entirely too small) but sometimes it just takes a little nudge and someone saying – “you really shouldn’t go out in public like that.”
