Fred in Skirts wrote:I think it goes with out saying that the Wal - Martians are a bit of off the ole' rocker. Many do not have a clue as to how they are dressed and I believe need a mental health worker to help them. Some are alcoholics or druggies and are so far gone they can't be helped. I actually feel sorry for a lot of them.
I know this discussion is meant in light fun, but that's a road I had to stop going down when I realized I was doing to others exactly what I wish the rest of the world would stop doing to me -- judging me, my mental health, my values -- based on five seconds of appearance. I particularly abhor the "People of Walmart" collections and I'm just waiting for the day I show up in one of them.
When I see someone at Walmart (or anywhere else) dressed in a way I would consider poor judgement -- ill-fitting, underwear exposed, visibly dirty or stained, color combinations that would make my photographer wife cry out in physical pain, whatever... I just don't know their story. Maybe it's all they have? Maybe they're homeless? Maybe they really do struggle with a mental disability. How is that their fault?
But let's suppose for a moment that we do see people at Walmart who are a lost cause, unaware of their own embarrassing or revolting appearance. We still can't apply such a broad brush to the entire population of "Walmartians": for every one person dressed like a vagrant, there are ten dressed better than I am. Maybe that guy in the suit buying a $150 birthday cake for his 1-year-old who doesn't even know what it's for is looking at my undamaged but faded t-shirt and jeans and sneakers (all from Walmart) and rolling his eyes that I couldn't be bothered to throw out those rags and buy decent clothes, or at least invest in a trip to the barbershop so I don't look like a filthy hippie. And the jokes about fat people at Walmart... most of them could apply to me too.
So... I no longer worry about it and I don't feel the need to look down on them or mock them. Their life, their choices in what is and isn't important enough (or even possible) to spend money on. It's not like it has the slightest effect on my well-being anyhow, right? Under the clothes, we're all the same.
Sorry, I didn't meant to get preachy on you. It just struck a nerve for some reason.