Happy Easter everyone.
I hope, like me, you plan to eat your eggs in one go tomorrow and then felt guilty!
There is something so particularly tasty about chocolate in the shape of an egg.
Do any of you remember the show that was on TV years ago called What’s My Line?
I don’t think it was that great a programme and, if we looked back at it now, we would probably find it very dull, but we were easily pleased in those days.
A person came on and mimed what they did in their job and the panel of celebrities had to guess what job it was.
Part of the fun was that they never used to look like the sort of people who would do a job like that.
You know what I mean. We have a certain preconception of what a minister looks like, or a teacher, a butcher or a builder.
It was fun to guess what they were miming and to do the detective work from a series of yes and no answers.
Guessing occupations
So, this week I was having my hair done and the young girl washing it was telling me about her dad, who is a crane driver.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I have never met or talked to anyone who operates one of those sky-high cranes we see up in the clouds.
She was telling me that he works from 6am to 6pm, five days a week and enters his crane by a steep ladder, then stays up there the whole day.
He doesn’t even have a loo break because, if he comes out of his crane, work has to stop and he doesn’t get paid for the time he is out.
He takes his snacks and drinks up with him, but not too many for obvious reasons!
There is a plan in place for if he has a heart attack or collapses while up there, and his favourite thing about his job is that he sees sunrise and sunset over London every day with the most spectacular view.
This got me thinking that there are so many people who do incredibly important or dangerous jobs out there and we don’t even known what they entail. If that’s you, I’d love to hear about it.
I’m always going to look up now and spot the person operating the crane, when I pass a building site and think: “You are a bit of a legend!”
Also while at the hairdressers (colouring my hair takes a few hours!), my colourist was taking before and after pictures for her website and we started discussing filters, which lots of people use on social media.
Online vs real life
I have friends, who will remain nameless, who look nothing like what they do in real life in their Instagram or Twitter pictures.
They put filters on their photos to make themselves look slimmer, prettier, to have whiter teeth or more make-up, or sometimes all of the above.
If you had never met that person, you might just think that’s how they really looked, but if you know them it’s a bit weird because you know it’s a trick.
Well, it’s all a bit of fun in a lot of ways and most of us take quite a few photos before we post the one we like best. However, it’s one thing choosing a good photo but a totally different thing to amend the photo so we look perfect.
The obvious drawback is for young people who are insecure about their looks, as we all are at some stage.
Most of us eventually realise looks are not the be-all and end-all but, as a teenager, it’s sometimes hard to believe that, when the pretty girl or the handsome boy seems more popular.
I downloaded an app which filters my photos and I really see now how addictive it can be.
I’ve always, for example, been happy about my naturally straight teeth.
So, when I even started to prefer the filtered look of the thing I’m happy with and liked having Hollywood teeth, imagine then how much I preferred the filter on the things I don’t like. Imagine having a tiny waist, no wrinkles and smooth skin in every photo.
It’s a very slippery slope to embark on.
So, my advice is, don’t even try it! But have a laugh at my results!
If you see me looking perfect, you know it’s not really me!
Have a good week.
Yvie x