How come every time you leave the house looking less than perfect, you meet the person you really don’t want to meet; either she who purrs with satisfaction at your apparent demise, or he who scans your appearance quickly with a ” God, that was a close escape” glance??

I know this always happens so “how come” I was so lazy?

Well, maybe, during all the broken dish-washer, laundry loading, floor washing, bed changing, loo cleaning……stuff(!!!!), how I look just didn’t seem that important!! And then I feel that look…ouch. Suddenly you see what they see. They don’t know how bad my week has been, or how clean my house is right now because of all my hard work. No, with one scathing look they make their assessment of your life-coping skills and, from their ivory towers of perfect personal grooming, and their desperate need to find a victim to crow over, they pass their judgement.

The absolute worst is the “Ahh, so how are things with you?”, pseudo-sympathetic arm around your shoulder, just hoping you will collapse into them and confess that your life is falling apart. But all of this says more about the viewer than the viewed.

When I meet my friends looking a similar way I guess their dish-washer has just broken, they have just finished their laundry, washed the floors, changed beds and cleaned the loos. One ( or two) off days does not make you a wreck, a failure, or mean that your life is falling apart.  I am actually happy not to be so self-obsessed as to be unable to leave the house without make-up or my hair just freshly coiffed. How awful to  under that kind of self-inflicted pressure.

But………….it might be a while before I do the naked face thing again. As I waited at the till to pay for my groceries I started chatting to a lovely lady. She  was chatting away about her upcoming trip to England. Her face smiled easily and she looked vital and engaged with life. She was happy to tell me her age, 76, and she certainly was a great 76. As we lamented and laughed about the trials of modern day living she asked me (51 years old),

“Do you not find you don’t need as many clothes when you retire?”

Estee Lauder, I love you and will never leave home without you again!!!!!!!!!!!