Thursday, August 5, 2010

You've Got Me Wrong

I wake up in the morning and do the morning ritual of getting ready for the day. I comb my hair, brush my teeth, shave, put on deodorant, and dress myself nice. All this is done for the sake of presenting myself well in public. The main public place in which I have to present myself well is my job. After class, I head into work as a clean cut man. Sometimes this is not enough. Expressions escape my face that set people in an uneasy mood.

My face is somewhat long with big brow bones. On the skin above my brown bones rest two thick patches copper-red eyebrows. Protruding just below the middle of the two brows is an above average sized nose. This nose is placed between two cheek bones that make themselves known. Right above these bones are my eyes. My eyes have been called pretty by many females, but I, unfortunately, do not take good care of what protects them. Having trouble sleeping through the night, at times, I occasionally develop dark bags under my eyes. On top of all that I have mentioned so far, I have been a little sensitive to light since I was a young child. Through my life, I have been pinching my eyebrows together in an attempt to block all excess light from reaching my eyes. As a result, I have formed a few slight "worry lines" on my brow. These lines are more aptly described as "anger lines", because that is what they really look like. I am not degrading myself by any means, but my face has its moments of giving people the wrong idea.

One event that comes to mind happened while I was working. I was doing my job diligently. Going around to each cash register and collecting money to place in the safe was a task that I was responsible for every few hours. I did my best to keep on a timely schedule and correctly do the task at hand. As I was executing the job, I had all sorts of numbers running through my head, on account of a register being short a few dollars. So I was deep in thought. As I walk down an aisle of the sales floor, I kept my mind focused on the money count while trying to dig my work keys out of my pocket. As I finally achieved the retrieval of my keys, I looked up to find a small child, six or seven years of age, cowering behind her mother. The child's grip was tight on her mother's pants, being sure to keep on the opposite side of her mother. This would not have affected me so much if I did not notice the same kid running around the store freely, being so happy and worry-free. I like kids. What did I do to scare this child so much?

The answer came while I was working a few weeks later. My friend's dad came in for some medicine, and noticed me taking stock in an aisle. He said that I looked angry. In fact, I was very happy. It was about time to go home for the weekend, and I had fun plans. However, once I heard what he said, I began to hear it more. Co-workers would ask if I was mad about something. Friends would ask why I had such a scornful expression on my face. I guess that I make these expressions unintentionally. I even once thought that my long hair played a role in accidental expressions that people see on my face, but that thought was wrong. My little brother, who looks much like I do, has short hair. He told me that people randomly ask if he is angry too. Now, I am just racking it all up to my facial structure and the expression that my face makes when I am thinking or trying to block extra light from my eyes.

I continue to wake up each morning and prepare my appearance in a sociable way. Since I inadvertently express negative feelings with my face, I try my best to counter-balance it with a clean cut look. This is very important for my job since customers want friendly service, not service filled with false disdain.

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