Snow Struck

On the way to grandmas, my mother had to run into the grocery story. I, trying to stay warm after the blizzard, decided to stay in the car. Its times like these that provide perfect opportunity for people watching and reflection.

A woman, obviously the owner of the car parked and facing me, slowly made her way to her passenger door. She was moving, well, slowly, and she had a scowl on her face. But maybe that was because of the snow. I continued to watch her. She was probably in her late 40s or early 50s, short, ragged, dark, hair pulled back. She was overweight and wearing an oversized sweatshirt. She was driving a burgundy Buick.

As I was watching the woman facing me, I notice another women. She was clearly the owner of the vehicle to the left of our already established driver. Unlike her counterpart she was dressed fashionably in jeans, she wore make-up and her hair was styled. She was thin and probably in her late 30s or early 40s. I noticed too, that this woman was growing impatient because she couldn't get to her car until the other woman moved.

I realize that people watching is not exactly an accurate science, I know nothing of these two women, who they are or what they are about. But what struck me with both of them was that one, who by all appearances had the nice things, had the nice looks, seemed just as miserable as the woman, who had let herself go or maybe never found herself in the first place. Even a car away I could feel this energy.

The plain woman seemed like she spent her entire life being treated as a second-class citizen, not as important as the pretty people, probably got made fun of as a child, so why should she even try.

The fancy lady was probably popular, a high school cheerleader in the 1980s, told she could do anything. But just like the women next to her, she was scowling, unhappy, stressed, rushed.

Obviously the stories of these women are completely hypothetical, but they intrigued me. Whether you appear to have everything in the world, or absolutely nothing, you can be equally miserable. Conversely, you can also be equally happy in either situation, you just have to figure out how to do it.