Paper or "Plastics"?

I guess I've been a people watcher my whole life. I love going downtown, or to OSU, to watch all the different type of people walking about. I like to wonder what kind of person these strangers are. I wonder why he/she looks so sad or lost. I notice the ones sitting alone, as well as the ones trying a bit too hard to stand out. I think it is pretty fascinating. I try not to think about what they are thinking about when they see me.

The other day I was at the Polaris Fashion Mall and I couldn't help but notice all "The Plastics" there. I'm obviously borrowing that phrase from the film, "Mean Girls"...but it is pretty self-explanatory. The Plastics are the beautiful people; the wealthy, the people the rest of us are supposed to strive to be like. Call them whatever your generation prefers: "Heathers," "Richies" or "Stepford Wives."

They were everywhere: looking so perfect and unaffected by life. It would be hard for me to imagine them suffering one real tragedy or hardship in their oblivious lives. I wonder what that would be like. I wonder what life is like to think nothing of paying $300 for a pair of shoes and hundreds more for a handbag. How different would my life be if I got handed a Lexus for my first car? Could I be plastic too if I had the resources? Boob job, tanning booth, liposuction, complete hair and clothing makeover...no, I doubt that I could because I've lived through too much. My eyes would give me away.

Has anyone else ever noticed how easy it is to pick out the "poor" or "down-trodden" people in a random group of people? It's not about the material things either...it's in their faces and how they carry themselves. The shine is gone from their eyes and hair. They look as beaten down on the outside as they feel on the inside. They carry around this invisible weight that literally pulls them down and inward.

I remember once I told my family doctor that I couldn't really put into words how depressed or down I felt other than to say: "I feel as bad on the inside as I look from the outside." Lately I look into the mirror and hardly recognize myself. I always look tired, unhappy and stressed. Even when I think I'm having an "up" day...I'll get a glance of my reflection and see that I don't look at all happy. How can you erase the years that a hard life has added to you? How can I reconcile the feelings within with my outward appearance?

Where's my reboot button?