Impressions

43 and sunny, quicky warming up. 

This morning a small car made its way across our ridge. The exhaust was loud for such a small car; Larry said it sounded like the "cherry bomb" exhausts people used to put on cars in the 60's and 70's. I remember those, noisy buzzy-sounding things. 

Which got me to thinking about impressions. We humans seem to like to impress each other, one way or another. Loud exhausts, trucks jacked up a mile high, bumper stickers proclaiming everything from peace to war as if the drivers were trying to shout their personal beliefs to everyone they pass. Stick people decals to denote family size, wild paint jobs--our automobiles become statement pieces.

Then there's hair. Yesterday we saw two women with flaming pink-red hair; another with rainbow hair, a guy with all the hair shaved off one side of his head, another with a man-bun. Hair style, hair color, or no hair at all--statements to our individuality. Make-up too--most women wear it, and some are real artists with its application, but there is the extreme element here as well, and even some guys get into that. 

I could go into tattoos, but you know what I mean. All this effort makes me wonder why so many try so hard to stand out, to be different in appearance or impression, to announce their style and beliefs so blatantly so that we can hardly miss them. Sure, for many it's simply personal preference--they like their hair cut a certain way, or see their tatts as art. Which many are, actually. 

But still. Can anyone really enjoy it when their car sounds like a buzz saw? Or is it that they just enjoy making people stare, jump, frown, cover their ears? Anything to get a reaction. I'm not tryig to be judgmental here, but human behavior interests me, particular the many ways we try to impress each other.

When I look at the rest of the animal world, I don't see anything like this behavior. Sure, the males have their mating routines that can be pretty flamboyant, but I don't see them plucking out their feathers or fur, or dipping them in mud or something to be a different color. They simply are what they are.

I admit I've never felt the urge to be the peacock in the chicken yard. My makeup and hair styling is minimal at best, my style of dress is way behind any fashion trends, and my van is identical to thousands of others of the same make and color. I have no tattoos and never wanted hair any color other than what it is naturally. Even when storytelling I didn't wear costumes; I might dress just nough differently from the audience to make it clear I was the performer, but even that made me uncomfortable if I had to go somewhere else in my "storytelling clothes." I guess I am the opposite extreme of what I'm talking about, the one who prefers to be camoflaged in a crowd. 

Different strokes for different folks, right? Maybe the world would be a duller place if everyone tried to fade into the woodwork. And those of us who write, well, we choose this medium to express ourselves, so maybe it's the same thing as having red-red hair, or a radical car? 

Humans. We are certainly an interesting and baffling group, are we not?

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.