I didn't forget today

It's come to my attention that I'm very narrow minded when it comes to clothing and other people. I guess another word for it is self absorbed, but I prefer narrow minded. What I mean is that I know how clothes work on me, what I look good in and what I like but I'm completely oblivious to what clothes other people wear. This may not seem like that big a deal but I feel like having three sisters (one of whom is twenty years old today!) whose bodies types are rather different from mine I should be a little bit more aware.

To put it bluntly, my body resembles a stick. I'm tall and thin.* It sounds kind of harsh but I'm used to it. It's not that my body has been objectified a lot in my life but when you're got a skinny kid who eats a ton (as was my scenario) people tend to comment on it. Have you ever heard the joke, 'do your parents not feed you at home'? I have. As a kid, I heard it, or jokes like it, at every family get-together or meal eaten at a friend's. Luckily, I was sensible and didn't punch anyone out.

I'm straying off my topic here but I used to have the most trouble with pants. I wore dresses and overalls because, for me, pants were ALWAYS either too short or too big around. I thought it was the most normal thing in the world to have to have a hand on my pants, pulling them up, every five seconds so they wouldn't fall down. This was my life. I was used to it.

And then one day, I was in a shopping mall and I went into a change room carrying a pair of pants that I didn't really have any hope would look good on me, but at least they might clothe my bottom half successfully. And then the world stopped turning because... they fit.

Anyway from that point onward I was able to find pants that were long enough and small enough and I've gotten used to that, too. And we all lived happily ever after. The end (is a fragmented non-sentence).

When I started writing this, I was going to try and make a point of how I never thought people should be jealous of me because no matter how many people told me I was skinny--gah, I still hate that dirty, ugly word--I thought I looked like everyone else. Why does our culture idolize this body type? Curves are sexy. Maybe I'm just being on of those people that thinks the grass is greener but I actually don't think the grass is greener. I think it's equally green on both sides.

Maybe I've had it easier than some. At the same time though, how am I supposed to "be myself" and love that person if all through my life people have been "praising"** me for something I have literally no control over. I have a fast metabolism. It's nothing to be impressed by or jealous of. It's just who I am. Could everyone just stop judging people based on what they look like? That would be great. kthxbai.

*A word to the wise: don't ever call a skinny person skinny. Skinny sounds like a gross word and even if you're trying to say it as a compliment, commenting on someone's lack of excess body fat is not normal.

**And I say praise because I can't think of a better word. Perhaps people aren't so much praising as they are in awe.