What has happened to pride in your appearance? A rant.

Have we become such an "anything goes" society that people dont care how they look?

I mean really, is it just the area where I live or is it everywhere? I used to blame the area where we lived in PA, it was full of Appalachian mountainish people who came to "town" usually on the weekends, and plain (Amish, mennonite) folks who were usually out working in the fields all day, if they took a break to run into Walmart for supplies of course they wouldnt change clothes.

But I dont live there anymore. I have moved to what I consider "civilization". We have every restaurant known to man here, we have a population of approximately 120,000 people in this valley. We cater to tourists, skiiers, movie stars and are the gateway to "Colorado ski country USA". We have a 4 yr college, host the Junior College baseball world series (which is this weekend by the way) and have one of the best public school systems in Colorado. The average 3 bedroom 2 bath home now costs in the neighborhood of $250,000. In short we are not a backwards community.

So why do so many peole look like they just walked out of a landfill when they go out in public? Maybe I am just sensitive, I have made a decision that I can no longer shop at our Walmart supercenter for groceries. This topic may be too sensitive to some of my readers so I wont go on about it, just suffice it to say that when I buy groceries I am quite possibly the only legal Amercian citizen in the store, and I am tired of dodging families of 8 or 10, all chattering in their native tongue, buying their groceries with food stamps that MY taxes are paying for.

NOW.. that said, lets go back to the pride in appearance topic. I am not hoity toity, but I was raised to wear clean clothes out in public, comb my hair, brush my teeth and look "presentable" to quote my mom. I have a college degree, make good money and I will NOT look like a transient out in public. I may look like a transient when I am cleaning house or scooping dog poop out in the yard but thats different. LOL If I am at home cleaning house and find that I have run out of cleaner, I change my clothes and go to the store. Its 2nd nature. Am I the only one who does this???

I have never seen such bedraggled looking people as I saw today. Dirty clothes, (I mean really DIRTY clothes), uncombed hair, filthy flip flops, and some of them had children in equally disheveled condition following them, one lady had a pair of knit short shorts on, obviously no underwear and her bra straps are showing. She was also wearing a pair of platform sandals!!

COME ON PEOPLE... soap is cheap! It isnt even summer yet! Cant you wash your clothes and comb your hair when you go out in public???

Dont get me started on what they look like when they go out to eat at a restaurant.......

Rant over, I am off to work for the next 3 nights, I will probably be taking care of some of those people I have described above. Maybe this is why it bothers me so much????