Last night I met a bunch of friends in town for a drink. Afterward, one of the ladies pulled me aside and said, “Are you okay? When you came in you looked so tired and so sad.”
Naturally, it almost goes without saying I was in a great mood and feeling grand. I thought I’d entered the restaurant looking smashing. Yet I felt compelled to say something to my friend to spare her from thinking I am a mountain of tears. “Oh no,” I said. ”It’s just that I’ve been eating a lot of salt lately and drinking heavily…” (which is kind of the truth) …”My face is just really puffy.”
Man, I love getting older — you think you look like you’re on top of the world while the world thinks you look like you got hit by a bus.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I’d bet good money you did look smashing when you entered the restaurant. “You look so tired” is about the snarkiest thing someone can say. It’s an observation that makes you feel crappy and does not help one whit. If it’s any comfort, I hear this much less now than I did when I was young and had small children wearing me out. Sometimes a gal just requires a drink-and-a-laugh’s worth of rejuvenation time to shift out of the day-in-day-out mom-on-duty personna. If anyone ever says this to you again, shake your head and laugh back at them. We all look energized when we’re laughing.
Jessie,
Growing old is mandatory – growing up is optional. Just keep on laughing!
Do you think that maybe the person making the comment wanted you to return the concern because they weren’t feeling up to par and wanted/needed a sympathetic ear? I’m sure you looked great.
Nah, it was one of my good friends. She calls it like she sees it. I don’t begrudge her. Truth hurts!
I’d run with what Lois said. I thought you looked great…but then again you know how I’m feeling these days
I just finished reading your book and decided to check out your website. Loved the book and the site…love, love the name of the website. The title of the book caught my eye that’s why I chose it. You have a new fan:) Good luck in your endevors!
Thanks for stopping by, Katy!
Great to be back after two weeks without power due to Hurricane Sandy. Surely missed my daily fix of “Rurally Screwed.”
Whoa. I hope you and yours are doing okay, Janelle! Glad to have you back.
And you just had your hair done! Sheesh.
Well, I suppose this could be useful in justifying a nice massage or facial. You better start checking out your local Groupons, Jessie.
Hell, maybe you should call up your friend and see if she’d like to join you at the spa…contingency…she buys the cocktails!
Yes, I like that suggestion!
the description that I heard that I started to see in the mirror when my baby was around a year old, was this: “my face looked like someone had scrunched up a paper bag and tried to flatten it out again” it’s like my skin went from youthful and normal to scrunchy and baggy. terrible.
Yikes! Who said that?? I hope you put a rock in that bag and hit him with it! (But it is hilarious in a sad and sick sort of way.)
You’re holding up better than most, that’s for sure.