keeping up with the joneses
My family and I live a life of ease. We have plenty to eat, our needs are met and on most days, I feel like the luckiest girl on the third rock from the sun. I do.
But, my skin has been crawling lately and I am trying, desperately, to be a big person and not come unglued each time I hear the phrase The Neighborhood, the one that is special in ways I guess I will never know.
When I am feeling particularly noble, I see the snobbishness, incessant chatter about moolah and plastic surgery for what it is: Insecurity. Desperation. Need. And I want to be kind.
I want to be kind but I am finding it hard when I'm pretty sure they aren't too eager to be quite as generous to me in my Target t-shirt and drugstore lipstick.
I used to think when Greg and I made more money someday - and ironically, we do these days - I wouldn't be unnerved by desperate housewives. That becoming affluent would erase my insecurities.
But anymore, the divide grows for me: Less about economic class, and more about lifestyle, choices and being a simple girl from the country. I'm pragmatic to the bone.
I'm not cut out to be a Jones, and today, I'm not sure what to make of it in a world gone mad, running, chasing but never satisfied.
Maybe I've had just enough.
But, my skin has been crawling lately and I am trying, desperately, to be a big person and not come unglued each time I hear the phrase The Neighborhood, the one that is special in ways I guess I will never know.
When I am feeling particularly noble, I see the snobbishness, incessant chatter about moolah and plastic surgery for what it is: Insecurity. Desperation. Need. And I want to be kind.
I want to be kind but I am finding it hard when I'm pretty sure they aren't too eager to be quite as generous to me in my Target t-shirt and drugstore lipstick.
I used to think when Greg and I made more money someday - and ironically, we do these days - I wouldn't be unnerved by desperate housewives. That becoming affluent would erase my insecurities.
But anymore, the divide grows for me: Less about economic class, and more about lifestyle, choices and being a simple girl from the country. I'm pragmatic to the bone.
I'm not cut out to be a Jones, and today, I'm not sure what to make of it in a world gone mad, running, chasing but never satisfied.
Maybe I've had just enough.
Comments
Stick with the drugstore kind.
- our IL house is a whopping 828 sq ft! TOTAL. No "real" garage, gravel driveway...and I LOVE being in the SMALLEST house in "The Neighborhood." (Heck, we have the LOWEST property taxes!)
- After having my skin destroyed/burned/rash-induced from an expensive spa facial, I went back to trusty old sensitive skin/fragrance free drugstore Olay face wash and moisturizer!
- I decided that instead of a tummy tuck, I'd get some padded bras at Marshall's - that way my boobs stick out more, and no one notices my tummy bulge!
These are all my rationalizations (logically planned, of course) to derail any temptations into the world of insecure housewifery and/or snobbery swirling around me in The Neighborhood.
I think I will always be a thrift store/Target girl. I feel a little naughty when I spring for Pepperidge Farm.
We will band together in our thrift store thriftiness!
You're so right on the true reason for their one-up-manship, but that doesn't mean you have to like them :-)
Sounds like you know what is important. Smart girl.
one of the reasons i had to move away from aspen...want my kids to get the world. eventually. and jess has it right, drugstore lipstick is great.
so loved you post and the comments, it's so good to know there are some other down to earth people out there!
Hold your ground and enjoy your peace...it's worth more than gold.