The Single Woman’s Dash of Sass: Maybe It’s NOT Maybelline…

Quote of the Day:

“Accept who you are; and revel in it.” ~Mitch Albom

The Single Woman Says:

A few days ago, on a warm spring day, I had the urge for a root beer float, so I popped down the street to a Sonic Drive-In to treat myself. Unfortunately, I forgot to glance at a mirror before I headed out the door. Halfway to Sonic I realized I was wearing an old NKOTB t-shirt, sans bra; black workout pants that were so covered in cat hair from my kitty Jeeves, they looked like I was growing a new species of animal on them; and my hair was pulled over to the side in a messy ponytail – stray hairs sticking out everywhere as though I had just stuck my finger in a socket. Granted, I was just going to Sonic, not Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, but I still had a moment of irritation with myself for leaving the house looking like the 80’s just threw me up. Oh, well. Nothing I could do about it now. I tried to smooth my hair down and dab on a little lipgloss as I rolled up to the window.

The electronic voice that crackled through the speaker to take my order was obviously in a playful mood. “Would you like some extra ROOT with your BEER?” he asked, after I placed my order for a root beer float. “Sure!” I replied. “Oh, and one more thing,” he went on. “Didn’t you say you needed an application?” Ironically enough, I had noticed the “Now Hiring” sign when I pulled into Sonic, but I certainly hadn’t requested an application. “Ummm…no. But thanks!” I said, a little confused, but smiling from his silliness.

The female carhop brought out my root beer float a few moments later, pausing on her way back into the restaurant. “Oh, by the way…when they ask if you want an application, it’s because one of the boys inside thinks you’re pretty,” she said with a giggle. “As soon as you pulled up, they said ‘We need a job application at Station 12!’ Just wanted to let you know.”

Sitting there in my car in my ratty NKOTB t-shirt and even rattier sideways ponytail, I couldn’t help but grin from ear-to-ear to hear that. I had been ruing the fact that I left the house looking so unkempt, and yet the Sonic drive-in boy thought that even in all my messy glory, I was pretty. Maybe…just maybe…beauty and worth aren’t found in a makeup bottle, or a salon-fresh hairstyle, or a fabulous outfit. Maybe our sparkle comes from somewhere deeper inside, somewhere so pure and authentic and REAL, an old NKOTB t-shirt can’t even cover it up. Or maybe I just needed to be reminded that it’s OKAY to be less than perfect. Whatever the case – that seemingly insignificant encounter at a Sonic Drive-In gave me the courage to accept myself a little more loudly, and to revel in myself a little more proudly.

Because maybe it’s NOT Maybelline, after all. Maybe I WAS just born with it.

Maybe you were, too. J