Monday, March 06, 2006

How vain is too vain?

We're all vain to some degree. Most of us take a quick glimpse of ourselves as we walk past a mirror or we stop to fix our hair or outfit when we're washing our hands in the bathroom.

Most of us care about our looks to a normal degree. I see some women bravely walk into BART with no make-up at all, then when they sit down, they grab out a huge make-up bag and start applying foundation, eye liner, eye shadow, blush, mascara and curler, lipliner, lipstick..the whole works! It takes them 30 minutes to finish applying make-up. I often wonder what they would do if they didn't get a seat? Go to work without make-up? But I think that's a normal level of vanity. I personally wouldn't want to do all that on BART since I like getting ready in my own home. Besides, it only takes me10 minutes for make-up and 5 for hair.

However, there are people who take vanity to a whole new level! They don't care that they are in public, and they will just stare at themselves in the mirror for ten minute straight or longer. I saw a woman today who stood in front of a window on BART. Because BART goes underground several times during the Pittsburg Baypoint to SF route, the window becomes a clear reflection, like a mirror. This woman could not take her eyes off herself in the reflection. She brushed through her hair with her fingers, then pouted her lips, touched her hair some more, and flashed smiles at herself.....then repeated the whole routine again. The entire ride she was checking herself out in the window. That was just too much! This other time, I saw a woman who brought a small mirror in her purse, took it out, and started checking her eyebrows, make-up, hair, teeth, lips, and also smiled at herself in the mirror during the ride.

Why would anyone do that? I check on my compact every so often to make sure I don't have anything awkward on my face or teeth, but I look at myself for 1 second or 2 seconds max. What would propel these women to look at themselves for 30 minutes straight? Even if they are the most gorgeous women, which they are not, they still do not need to stare ar themselves in that fashion. Were they trying to look good for someone at work? Were they practicing a smile for an admirer? Or are they just so vain that they don't realize they're doing this?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more. Personally, I check to make sure everything is as it should be while washing my hands, or waiting for a friend in the ladies room, but i don't understand vanity to the extent of the women you talk about. I respect my co-workers who are humble significantly more than the one's who think they are god's gift to the world. When does looking good end, and losing focus begin?