But I Want to Be Popular Too
Let's face it. We all want to be popular. Popular with friends,
relatives (well, maybe not relatives--just kidding), coworkers,
bosses, and so on. Popularity is associated with fun times,
success, prosperity, and a whole array of other positive
thoughts and emotions. After all, when you think of the most
popular boy or girl in high school, what pictures come to mind?
In the case of the girl, you might envision the prettiest girl
with the best smile and personality, perhaps captain of the
cheerleaders. For the boy, you might think football quarterback,
best athlete, or just plain best looking kid with the highest
academics. Granted, these descriptions might not match exactly
what came into your mind, but I think you get the point: when
people conjure up images of the "popular ones," they tend to
think "the best looking," "the best dresser" or something along
this line.
None of us though has any control over the genetics part, and
therefore we may not have been born one of the so called
"beautiful people," who are paraded like starlights on the
covers of magazines; nor fortunate enough to have been endowed
with unrivaled athletic talent. However, it is indeed true that
"beauty is in the eye of the beholder." After all, have you not
had the experienced of meeting a very handsome man or woman of
such abrasive qualities that you would not think to be
associated with this person, despite all the good looks? On the
contrary, have you not met people who, despite just average
looks, average physical builds, or average talents, possessed
some magnetic charm that forced you to absolutely fall in love
with them, if even in a platonic way?
Being born beautiful, rich, or with exceptional talent does not
guarantee popularity. Having these attributes certainly gives
you a huge advantage, but how many times have you come across or
read about someone who is beautiful and talented, yet is an
absolute boor: crude, ill-mannered, excessively self-centered,
egocentric? Any or all of the these? You would think that such
individuals would get down on their knees everyday and thank God
for having blessed them beyond measure; yet often thankfulness
is severely lacking in these individuals, and they are the
epitome of recycled dross. True. Rich people can buy others and
even buy popularity--to a certain extent. But this is not true
popularity as the old cliche is appropriate: "Money can't buy
class."
In its deepest sense, that saying is true. To drive my point
home, I refer to the blockbuster remake of the movie "Titanic."
In that movie the character Cal, Rose's fianc