The Ugliest People

Beautiful people... we were surrounded by a whole bar of people trying to look their best. It didn't matter if they were young or old, chubby or skinny. Of course they were, it was Saturday night. So I wondered out loud to my friend, who is the ugliest person here? An interesting thought. Of course, she looked at me like I was nuts--a look I am very familiar with. Amused, we looked around and decided that one guy was a bit creepy looking, but not really ugly.

Most of the time we think about beauty. We try to impress those around us with the latest fashions, hair styles, and for women, the inevitable cosmetics. We try to be up on the latest news, gossip and trends on Twitter so if we can find an opportunity, we can demonstrate how beautiful and knowledgeable we are. For the shallow, this is their entire existence. For the rest of us, it's what we do to try and fit in.

But what about the ugly people? If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so must ugly be. Interestingly, we didn't really see anyone we thought was ugly -- well at least superficially. You see that eye of the beholder can be easily fooled. It is easy to put on a face, the right clothes etc., and still be hiding ugly. We shy away from those that we are not physically attracted to -- or at least until we get to know them. Anyone who has ever been on a dating website knows this. We all seem to say that it's what's on the inside that counts. But at least initially we don't think this. We pre-judge based on appearance. It's almost that we have to overcome our physical eye of the beholder prejudices.

I have been fooled many times in my life, but really I am not a fool. Sometimes we blindly trust the outward beauty of someone only to learn that they really are ugly. Perhaps we were seduced by their physical attributes, smooth tongue, or our own desires to be one of the included. The inner circle of privileged people. Only to discover that they really are ugly in the eyes of my heart. In that, I trust.

What did I learn? Well I have never been attracted to the playboy model type anyway (Well, maybe when I was 13 and had one under my mattress.) I prefer real people. Real beauty comes from the inside and glows outward. Can ugly people really be beautiful? Sure... and so can anyone.