by Marijoyce Porcelli

Created on: June 11, 2009

Is it just me, or are people becoming a lot more observant than before, and not always in a positive way?

People seem to take more avid notice these days of how others dress, how another individual looks and our society seems to judge at times on this criteria alone, even before we, as a culture, even get to know the person in question.

Myself, I am very observant when it comes to emotional input. When someone is smiling or laughing, but there is pain in his or her eyes I will see that pain. I realize when people who act over confident are scared out of their wits. I know when one person truly loves or doesn't like another, regardless of gestures going on that might seem to testify to the contrary. But do I notice how people look?

Okay, if someone, man or woman, is very beautiful then I probably do notice that. Then again my idea of beauty is usually different than the norm. I tend to like character in a human face, rugged lines and intelligent sharp eyes, much more than pleasing but, at least to me, rather bland features. So, yes, in a way, I guess I do notice how people appear to some extent, but, even though I've always been a writer, I've just never paid a lot of attention for the most part to the way people look or dress within the norm of society. That has never been of any real importance in my opinion.

Yet, these types of observations seem to be of great importance to others lately, and even seem to rule our lives to some extent. Heaven forbid that we are caught out in public without openly displaying some name brand label to strangers.

The last time I visited a friend on the West Coast, we were sitting at a sidewalk caf. The tables were nestled close together so very near us were what I thought of as "a gaggle of young blondes." I didn't pay a lot of attention to their high-pitched giggles and squeals of seemingly happy excitement as they talked and laughed over their food and drinks adorned with cherries and tiny paper umbrellas.

So I was startled when one glanced over at me, a bit of a smile on her face, and said, "Tell me darling, where did you get those tacky old lady shoes?"

The rest of her table exploded with laughter at her daring, while I calmly looked down at my sturdy but serviceable and very comfortable footwear.

I smiled back at her. "I got them at the tacky old lady shoe store." I glanced down at her spangled high-heeled silvery numbers. "Where did you get yours? You roll a rich hooker?"

At first there was simply stunned silence

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