Working in the city means that every now and then you come across random and unprecedented situations. For example, a couple of months back, I walked past a bin that was on fire and someone rushed into the nearest convenient store and bought bottles of water to put it out. I have no idea how the bin caught fire, but there you go. Now, a couple of days ago on my way to work, I was minding my own business and must have walked past this guy. The next thing I know, someone is jogging next to me then stops in front of me. It caught me slightly off guard, because up until that point, I was in my own little world.
But the guy (who looked to be in his early 20's) was like: "I just saw you walk past me and you have such a beautiful face that had a really cute expression on it, and I thought I would never forgive myself if I didn't stop and talk to you." Which is sort of sweet, but slightly weird. I had no idea how to respond to that, so I just said "thank you" (and awkwardly standing with my arms crossed) and said that was really nice of him to say that, but I was on my way to work and had to go, but that lead to him to guessing what my occupation was. He guessed: florist (I have no idea where he got that from), a barista and then he guessed "making opals with your eyes?"which made me laugh and say "that would be weird, so funnily enough, no, that isn't my occupation." He then asked for my number, and even though he seemed like a nice person, I remember that life lesson of "STRANGER DANGER" at school, so I didn't tell him, instead said that he came across as nice, but you never know, he could be a serial killer. And then my verbal diarrhoea briefly kicked in for a bit: "I'm not saying you are a serial killer, chances are highly unlikely, but my point is, that you never know." He said that he admired that I was cautious about giving my number to a stranger, he mentioned something about him "jumping into the deep end" with asking me, but he repeated again that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if I left without giving him my number. I still said no, but in the nicest way possible, because he did legitimately appeared to be a decent person and didn't want to hurt his feelings, but seriously, the whole stopping me in the street is incredibly weird. So I just was like, "sorry, but still no. But thank you and have a lovely day and a lovely life, and if we happen to meet again (which is unlikely, because it's a city, what are the chances of that happening), you never know."
And then I continued walking to work. The End. But I do have to confess that I did have a smile on my face for a while after, because it's always nice when someone calls you beautiful, especially when you don't belief it yourself. Things like that don't happen everyday.
My mum has told me over and over again that looks fades. So one day, everyone who is young now will become old, and they will become the invisible ones in society (that's how my mum sees middle age) and no one will take any notice of you until you become so old that the youths will offer you their seat on public transport. So, other than the "stranger danger," this is another life lesson my mum has wedged into my brain from a very, very young age. Both my parents always encouraged me to let my personality let lose (also known as my eccentricity and craziness to unleash), because (quoting them now) "when you are young and beautiful, the world will notice. But you should also be kind, funny, always interested to learn, and not be afraid to be yourself, because when you no longer have looks, your personality and education is all you've got left." I don't know if that is inspiring or just really depressing, but either way, that life lesson is what I've grown up with. I think I'm thankful for that brutal honesty from my parents, because it has taught me to not be superficial (even though, I do have shallow moments. I'm not self-righteous, I know I'm infinitely flawed).
This anecdote inspired today's song, Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful" which I think perfectly sums up my parent's life lesson.
But the guy (who looked to be in his early 20's) was like: "I just saw you walk past me and you have such a beautiful face that had a really cute expression on it, and I thought I would never forgive myself if I didn't stop and talk to you." Which is sort of sweet, but slightly weird. I had no idea how to respond to that, so I just said "thank you" (and awkwardly standing with my arms crossed) and said that was really nice of him to say that, but I was on my way to work and had to go, but that lead to him to guessing what my occupation was. He guessed: florist (I have no idea where he got that from), a barista and then he guessed "making opals with your eyes?"which made me laugh and say "that would be weird, so funnily enough, no, that isn't my occupation." He then asked for my number, and even though he seemed like a nice person, I remember that life lesson of "STRANGER DANGER" at school, so I didn't tell him, instead said that he came across as nice, but you never know, he could be a serial killer. And then my verbal diarrhoea briefly kicked in for a bit: "I'm not saying you are a serial killer, chances are highly unlikely, but my point is, that you never know." He said that he admired that I was cautious about giving my number to a stranger, he mentioned something about him "jumping into the deep end" with asking me, but he repeated again that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if I left without giving him my number. I still said no, but in the nicest way possible, because he did legitimately appeared to be a decent person and didn't want to hurt his feelings, but seriously, the whole stopping me in the street is incredibly weird. So I just was like, "sorry, but still no. But thank you and have a lovely day and a lovely life, and if we happen to meet again (which is unlikely, because it's a city, what are the chances of that happening), you never know."
And then I continued walking to work. The End. But I do have to confess that I did have a smile on my face for a while after, because it's always nice when someone calls you beautiful, especially when you don't belief it yourself. Things like that don't happen everyday.
My mum has told me over and over again that looks fades. So one day, everyone who is young now will become old, and they will become the invisible ones in society (that's how my mum sees middle age) and no one will take any notice of you until you become so old that the youths will offer you their seat on public transport. So, other than the "stranger danger," this is another life lesson my mum has wedged into my brain from a very, very young age. Both my parents always encouraged me to let my personality let lose (also known as my eccentricity and craziness to unleash), because (quoting them now) "when you are young and beautiful, the world will notice. But you should also be kind, funny, always interested to learn, and not be afraid to be yourself, because when you no longer have looks, your personality and education is all you've got left." I don't know if that is inspiring or just really depressing, but either way, that life lesson is what I've grown up with. I think I'm thankful for that brutal honesty from my parents, because it has taught me to not be superficial (even though, I do have shallow moments. I'm not self-righteous, I know I'm infinitely flawed).
This anecdote inspired today's song, Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful" which I think perfectly sums up my parent's life lesson.
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