The thing about me is that I am really kind to virtually everyone I see, unless the person is a poor driver and pulls out in front of me.:) But, I treat a cashier the same way as I do an ambassador. I of course treat my mom or daughter in a more loving manner than I do people that I don’t know. But I am just as cool with this barista at Starbucks in my neighborhood and regard him in the same way that I do with some of my closest friends.Not that it makes me this saint or that I am someone super special, but my whole point is I like spreading joy and love, but living in an area like D.C. suburbs, it can be quite tricky to keep the happiness flowing.

Being from the south, everyone was all like: “who is your family?” In the DMV (DC, MD, VA) it is: “what do you do?” So of course being that I don’t have a career really and that I don’t make buttloads of money a year, I quickly become not so interesting to a lot of the people I make small talk with at event.s The median income is over 150K in my area, so I am destitute compared to the rest of the people that I know. But I honestly find that I and some of the people that I consort with are far more interesting.

The thing is, I am usually me all of the time. I don’t know how to be any other way. I could win 5 million dollars tomorrow and act exactly the same. I would probably be more giddy because I would be out of debt and have a new car, but besides that I would be down to earth. These folks around here, are so pretentious and fake at times that I can’t handle it. I try to be real when I am dealing with them, but I find myself slipping into that superficial line of thought that many of them are a part of. It must be so nice to live in the bubble that they do where money is plentiful. But, so many of them are delusional about their lives!

These people give gadgets to their kids instead of time. They aren’t concerned about terrorism, or world problems, but instead which color to paint their dining room! I am in a dream state when speaking to some of them at gatherings. I am half wishing I could have their easy lives and half wishing I could escape the conversation because the things these people go on about are so unimportant. Many of them send their kids off all summer and let them go to countless sleepovers during the year, so between school and all of their activities there is no time spent with their children. So, needless to say it kind of frustrates me when they labor over which place to take for their winter/spring vacation with their families when their families are just mere accessories in the grand scheme of their lives.

Now don’t get me wrong. Everyone here is not plastic. But there is A LOT of it here. Maybe not plastic like cosmetic surgery plastic. But definitely in the way that what you or your spouse does for a living and what school your child goes to kind of way. I’m not in the club, and I am okay with that. But, I feel for the children who grow up with little quality time with their parents and with unrealistic expectations concerning life and relationships. This creates more plastic people. I am glad that I can live with our without these people. I can go to some events or deal with them at my kid’s rehearsals and move on. But my daughter having to deal with them is a whole different ballgame. Thankfully she is talented and has lots of friends. If she wasn’t, then it would probably difficult for her to deal with.

Since I am from a completely different area of the country, and a town that was more “normal” in regards to economics, the whole fake thing is just not me. I am also the daughter of an unspoken mom and the granddaughter of the duchess of outspokenness.:) But I think the biggest thing is, for us, being genuine is just important to who we are as women and people. Isn’t it the Christian way? Or decent way? Maybe that is the problem, lack of decency is missing. To treat others differently with the whole “have” and “have-nots” mentality is just not moral.

So, as I continue to not succumb to the ways of the plastic people, I will just remember that popular catch phrase of the late 90’s: “What would Jesus do?” That is the best way to deal with anyone that one is not fond of, or to the people that aren’t easy to relate to or even empathize with. It’s the only real way that I personally think I can take the high road without giving the phony people a too real piece of my mind.

Side note

*****If I sound jealous of these people, I don’t mean to. I think I used to want what they have, but I am so content in knowing that my life with my daughter is special. I wouldn’t trade all of the money in the world for the love and friendship that I share with her and my mother and other close relationships in my life. I think that sometimes I feel that others are so unappreciative of what they have and I think it is so unfair that they have the lives that they do. But, none of that is for me to decide or judge and wasting my time doing so, takes the joy out of living my life…

simply~

Dee