“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”

It's summer, and for teachers, even ones like me who take on some additional duties for extra spending money, it means I get to spend more time on social media.  I love Pinterest  in the summer because all my friends find and pin awesome stuff, even though I am never sure if I am supposed to make something super healthy, something super decadent, build something awesome from reclaimed something, or get a total body workout in six minutes?  It also means I spend more time on Facebook. I was inspired today by the number of quizzes that I not only see, but am often tempted to take and laugh at myself in the process.  The recent ones have been of a new variety, asking "How much of a _____ are you?"  Be it the "b" word, redneck or my personal favorite, "How classy are you?"  I was really thinking about that this morning, as I rode on my (okay, Justin's) John Deere mower while he moved wood to our burn pile in his 1986 (I think) old pick-up truck named Joe, singing my current favorite song, Fancy.  Why are we suddenly so concerned with our level of class?  Am I fancy?  Do I care?


You see, class to me is someone who is comfortable with who they are.  Class is accepting and laughing at yourself and embracing eccentricity, which every single person has.  Class is treating everyone like they are valuable, and making everyone around you feel like you noticed them and cared about them.  A person with class seems to brighten anywhere they go because they are secure in who they are and embrace it, they wear their own quirkiness with style, and they are not striving to be like anyone else.  I feel like we have substituted "classy" with some type of monetary equivalence in our society today.

I know as I age I become more comfortable with who I am.  I had a rather embarrassing situation at a junior high football game this past year.  You see, my beautiful niece is a cheerleader--an awesome one--and I hadn't gotten to see her do her thing.  I box in the evenings, and I get sweaty--really sweaty, I should not go in public--clothes, hair EVERYTHING sweaty.  It is GROSS!  However, I needed to see my girl do her thing!  It transcended my usual necessity of hygiene.  I left the gym and went straight to the football field.  I used hand sanitizer, facial cleansing wipes and dry shampoo to the best of my ability, threw on a sweatshirt, and went to see my girl.  Something about being a teacher that continues to surprise me is that it is kind of rare I go to many events and don't see people I know.  As I sat with my sister, a woman who I admire very much was walking by.  I was her daughter's teacher.  This woman is an amazing person.  She wears lipstick--true class!  Of course, I had to tell her how much I loved her daughter--it was truly important to me.  Forgetting my disheveled state, I called out to her and let her know how blessed I was to know her daughter.  She went to hug me, and I tried to stop her, but she hugged, and then said, "Oh my goodness, is that sweat on you?"  It was!  I felt horrible.  This amazing woman, the nice, good version of Martha Stewart from our town and I had sweated on her.  Do you know what happened?  She laughed.  I laughed.  I felt uncomfortable, but she wouldn't have it.  She made me feel okay.  I have seen her several times since then, I even took a picture with her amazing daughter at graduation (where I was not sweaty, I was showered and even had my hair done).  She is classy because she embraces exactly who she is, a woman who wears lipstick and loves certain things and is generous and kind.  I am better for having that experience.

I cherish classiness.  I strive to be classy.  I do really like my oddness.  I love people and I love my life.  Today, as I floated around in my fancy new above ground pool with a few of my favorite people, drank my flavored water from Sonic (that my favorite carhop knows exactly how to make--2 squirts of raspberry flavor, one squirt of mint, just a little extra ice) I felt like the fanciest and classiest and luckiest woman alive.  Have a wonderful week dear friends!  Stay classy!


Comments

  1. HelenDecember 23, 2015 at 4:21 AM

    I promise to give you credit, but I "borrowed" most of that second paragraph. There will be a time when I need that definition of "classy."
    H

    ReplyDelete

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