Would you like me better if I was rich, if I was fit?

The area is what people call “not the best part of town”. Over there, there is a baby’s clothes store decorated on 1976, the window displays (proudly?) a few knitted items that make you want to run to Wal-Mart, we can smell the dust, the stagnation and the despair even as we drive by. Further down, there is a Coffee Time, the clientele is a select group of people whose health, luck, fortune and appearance compete furiously for the same adjectives, such a: ‘poor’, ‘terrible’, ‘seen better days’, and ‘despicable’.

The other stores look as helpless, dirty and anachronic as the first ones. People walking on the street were more likely to move you to compassion or fear than to admiration.

From the back seat, our lovely catalan friend says “I don’t like this area much, it makes me feel… I don’t know… down”. V & I smiled at her from our front seats. “Really? Well no wonder, how come you don’t like a dirty, ugly part of town?”

That part of the conversation falls behind, same as that part of town. Music by Sting on the stereo keep us company us as we move along empty streets, cold winter night. As we get closer to home we drive through Yorkville, properly illuminated streets, expensive stores, and prices a few orders of magnitude higher those other areas.

Our catalan friend, says again, with absolutely innocence: “And them for example, this area makes me feel much better. I like it much better”. V & I laughed this time. “Really… the trendiest, best decorated, more exclusive stores in town cheer you up? You prefer them? But why?”

For V&I the answer was screaming at us from so many different directions that it was pointless even to start enumerating the reasons. Why prefer a Cartier store over a bankrupt prone, dirty store, that makes you think of endless evenings hoping for any customer to come in and by anything? Why prefer to watch a young, healthy, fit couple, well dressed and having a good time; over watching an overweight, poorly dressed woman talking to herself and yelling at strangers?

Is only natural. Isn’t it?

But there again. Does that mean that is only natural to prefer to spend time with some friends over others just because ones are more attractive or more successful? Would you like me better if I was rich, if I was fit? If I had publish a few books, dictated conferences and have a six pack under my t-shirt?

Is it normal? Is it right? Is it right because is normal? Maybe our friend was right on not finding the answers as obvious as we did.

Makes me think of that song “That I would be good” by Alanis Morissette:

“that I would be good even if I did nothing
that I would be good even if I got the thumbs down
that I would be good if I got and stayed sick
that I would be good even if I gained ten pounds

that I would be fine even if I went bankrupt
that I would be good if I lost my hair and my youth
that I would be great if I was no longer queen
that I would be grand if I was not all knowing”