The Ugly Reader: Those Who Ugly Can Take the Train
(Part 9 of 10.)
I’ve been using New York, perhaps the most deeply conflicted city in the country and perhaps the world, as a microcosm for ugly. The so-called beautiful people are a very real force here. You will see them going to the same places you’re innocently going to. It is fascinating to see the beautiful people bumping into things in shops and cafés, because, as in the rest of the world, you also see them, or their equivalents, all over the news.
Thus, the normal reverence for these people which is made possible by a proper distance and mystery does not really set in. It is one thing to admire a celebrity when she uses sense to stay clear of trouble, another when she ties up traffic on your way home and takes your favorite table at Elaine’s. You will then hate her. Hate is an ugly feeling. You and the object of your hatred both become uglier because of it. It is powerful, and instant. Yet, the beautiful people remain, taunting halfheartedly from all sides, on television, in print, and on the sidewalk.
And every evening, in every bar, there is an ugly contest, and the goal for many millions is to lose it. Who will be the last one picked for the ugly team? “I hope it is me!”
by Jack, October 21, 2003 8:45 PM | More from The Ugly Reader
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I used to be a pretty baby when I was 6(or 7), but I become uglier & uglier as I grow up day after day. And now a 15 year-old girl is dreaming to be pretty again. Is there a chance for me ? I'd make friends with anyone who is the same as me.Feel free to write me arlene@winnning.com
I am very ugly. people tell me all the time I am ugly. No one wants anything to do with me. People bark at me all the time on the streets. I wish I was dead.