Opus 2015-376: On the Street: Ugly Observations

I was waiting at an intersection while some mothers herded their chicks across the street.  We have all been there but on this day I said to myself, “These women are ugly.”  To be fair they might have said the same thing about me.  Ugly women are not unusual.  But the kids were cute.

How does that happen?  What gives a child beauty.  When my son was born he was a mess.  He looked like he had run into a wall.  He was purple and covered with chalky gunk.  He was also beautiful.  That of course was just prejudice.  I understand that.

But what is it that makes a classroom full of eight graders attractive on the whole?  What is the youthful aspect that makes them attractive?  You can look at them objectively and realize they are not really good looking.  You can see they will not be attractive as adults.  But there is still something attractive about them.

Is it physical?  Most young people have not had the time to abuse their body and build up the body fat so they are leaner and not flabby.  Some are caught in that stage between the childish diminsions and their final adult form and the combination is pleasing.

It is spiritual?  Young people are still full of promise.  They have their lives ahead of them.  Sure they are making mistakes but they have plenty of time to correct the mistakes and get it together.  So maybe what we find attractive is hope. 

It is attitude?  Many are still naive and cooperative.  When they throw a monkey wrench in the works it is often just childish energy, not deliberate sabotage.  They have not been dumped on by life so they are more open and friendly.

I don’t know, but whatever it is, I wish we could bottle it, store it and return it to them when they reach middle age.  Or send it to them when they reach the point of escorting their offspring across the street.  Or maybe pour it into scowling drivers. 

homo unius libri