Today I had lunch with my church-adopted family again. Today was rather enjoyable; the eldest two talked a lot with me. Well, I suppose "talking" gives the wrong impression; they told me stories. But it was nice anyway; I could tell that they were interested in my attention, and it was nice. I suppose I've been a little concerned about my facial foliage. I remember from last year how the family in general -- uh, I suppose the word would be "preferred" -- me without it. I myself would go without, except that I keep forgetting and it's not really a priority of mine. (The only real reason to shave is so your hair doesn't get messy when you eat, and that's generally only when you're eating less than carefully anyway.)
Interesting, that. People place a lot of emphasis on external appearances. For me, my appearance is something I don't bother with much. Particularly facial hair; it's just sort of there, you know? I don't actively see it (normally), so I tend to forget it's there. Yet, it's really a striking aspect of my appearance, all the more so because it's on my face. That the family seemed to disregard it didn't really strike me until later. And that felt good, too. I suppose it's rare to have people look past appearances. I'll confess to being shallow (and, yes, I suppose there are a lot of people who would be surprised to hear those words passing my lips -- or, at least, my fingertips) all too often.