Sitting here thinking about myself, my neighbors, and all the wonderful people I have met online got me wondering - how shallow are we? Does this flaw make our lives less magical, as we tend to veer away from the less than perfect, and are we missing out on a chance to know amazing people?

Here's a few examples, see what you come up with :

There's an amazing, creative artist who's work is wonderous, and childlike in imagination but executed in style like a master. You chat, talk, and think he's awesome...and then you find out this "young creator" who's "so friggin cool" is in his mid-50's. What's your opinion now? Is it changed?

There's a pretty girl who seems like she's in her mid-late 20's, and is warm and very fun. She's attractive, but as she speaks, you realize she either is wearing dentures or has no teeth. Is she any less of what she was before, or did your mind form a new interpretation?

There's a very cool guy who's always open to things. He offers to help you move, he is there when you need to talk, and he's the all-around guy's guy, sports and all. One night you and a few buddies are watching the game, each flopped in chair with beer happy as can be. You're watching the halftime show, and it's noticed that while the others are cheering for the cheerleader's upskirt moves, your friend is only interested in the men waiting to take back the field. Now, he's not hitting on you, isn't vocal about anything, and has been the perfect friend...does your level of comfort and trust shift, do you worry, will you treat him different, or do you see no change at all - it doesn't matter?

Maybe the artist would be your best friend, family, a mental version of a soulmate, drawing or painting what you see and feel in your sleeping dreams. Maybe he's the next Picasso -

Maybe the girl had a bone disease and never did drugs and was a contributing citizen, an upstanding girl, and her teeth became so deteriorated that she suffered chronic illness and had to get them removed. Maybe her dentures are noticable, or are just uncomfortable.

Maybe the gay friend liked you for your treatment of him, as an equal, and no different from any other guy. Maybe he'd be the EMT who'd save your life one day, or who would be the only non-judgemental person left when you make a major mistake.

When you choose, alienate, and discriminate, you not only deprive those you shun from having the chance to be accepted by a warm soul, but you lose the hope of maybe finding unconditional love - whether in the sense of a mentor, friend, lover, family, or just a shoulder or a beer buddy after a long day. How shallow , how loveless are you? Lilli