Funny thing about being a mother. You can say something until you’re blue in the face, but you have no credibility until someone else says it too. Ever notice that?
OK, I guess it happens to everyone.
Like yesterday – I had this family from Venezuela shopping in the store. I don’t understand a lot of Spanish, but I understood enough to catch on to what was going on. Only the husband spoke English.
The mother had tried on a dress that was a little too tight. She was asking her son and her husband how it looked. The son said it looked awful. The husband said it was OK. She liked it. She was going to buy it regardless.
The husband asked me what I thought. I said it would look ok if she wore a slimmer with it. He told her I said it looked bad.
The son said I told you it looked bad. You don’t believe me until the Senora says so?
I had to laugh.
We get a lot of international business at this mall. Which totally dumbfounds me – the locals all think the mall pretty much sucks. But anyway…
You know, certain cultures might have certain quirks that drive us crazy – but underneath it all, as human beings – we’re really all pretty much the same.
I don’t think I’ve seen a single culture where teenage and twenty something daughters don’t get frustrated with their mothers. The young girls want their mothers to dress like them – but mothers understand that it doesn’t look right for them to be dressed like their daughters. It’s world-wide.
Another thing I’ve noticed lately is that the US has definitely lost the edge on pretty. The typical American look is overweight, wearing sloppy clothes, talking on a cell phone, or eating.
I’ve been amazed at how many beautiful girls I’ve seen from all over the world – India, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Russia, Poland, Peru…
We sometimes get stuck in the place where we think we’re better than anyone else. I was guilty of that too, until I lost my good paying job and the universe showed me that I was no better, and was maybe a lot worse than many.
As uncomfortable as hard times may be, they always deliver grand lessons and will make us better people if we choose to learn from them.
So, there’s your Monday motivational!
Carole