Beautiful

I am very fortunate to be a pretty girl. God knows how much I enjoy it and all the ways it makes me happy. I like it very much when other people notice and think so as well. So I've never been terribly distressed to have people stare, or make comments, or randomly hit on me, or even express their appreciation in even ruder ways. Yeah, sometimes it can be disrespectful, or annoying, but I'm usually okay with it because, hey, they wouldn't be doing it if they didn't think I was attractive. It's a nice feeling when someone uninvested tells you you look good.

So, no, I don't really mind it, but sometimes I really don't understand it. I get hit on lots of random places-- on the street, at the grocery store, at malls. I was walking with a friend on Russell Street a while ago, and a car full of jerky boys slowed down to catcall and leer. I laughed and said unthinkingly, "Again? Is Waltham just full of exceptionally tacky people?" She said "it's never happened to me." It happens to me fairly frequently. It happened again earlier this week. Now, I swear I have more of a point than how very difficult the life of a good-looking girl is-- my confusion comes in here. I get it, people like pretty people and want to be around them. What I don't understand is how you can make a play for someone based on no more information than you deem them to be physically attractive.

Because when a guy comes up to you in a food court in a mall and asks for your number, how does he have any idea you're the kind of person he'd actually want to date? How do these random guys know if I'm smart or nice or fun or interesting or anything at all besides pretty? Sure, I have a nice smile and a cute tummy, but do they really want to listen to me talk about larps or watch Law and Order with me? Or are they going to find me hopelessly geeky and way too arrogant? I love looking at the pretty as much as the next deeply shallow girl, but I personally can never really want anything from anyone I'm not already interested in as a person. I don't even particularly like touching people more than normal if I don't have that interest. I guess there's a hope that something might be there-- and as a friend once said to me, though it is what's inside that counts, people are more willing to look for those good things in a person with a good exterior. I'm willing to bet at least some of the people who have had feelings for me because of who I am were at least initially drawn because of what I look like. But I need to get to know a person first before I can have anything to do with him that way, so I'm slightly confused by people who hit on me before they do anything more than see me.