Narcissus

It was twelfth grade and I needed just one more class. There were two openings – one in an art class run by a cubist Nazi whack-o, the other a class in Mythology. I wisely went for Mythology. It was interesting, as I learnt all about Norse and Greek mythology, something I knew nothing of. I particularly intreigued by the tale of Narcissus, a vain goddess whom turned into a flower, and a word I had never heard before. Therefore, the story stuck with me.

Years later, I was in a business conference down in Portland and there was a nice looking couple in the audience. They were young, in their late twenties, and very obviously together. As everyone went around the room introducing themselves, part of which involved stating your main goal in life, they told of how their goal was to be the best looking male and female in any situation! Yeah, sort of struck the group dumb – how much more shallow could you get?! Some people there actually had goals for their lives with more substance.

I have since continued to meet Narcissuses all of the time. Our culture abounds not only in vain young women but also young men whose total attention appears to be the tailoring of their bodies to some societal vain ideal. Don’t ask me, this one is not one of my problem areas!

But, this is a problem and a tremendous one – all of their attention is on their outside flesh and nothing for the mind. Don’t get me wrong, I think the desire to care for oneself is normal. I think the desire to look your best or what you are comfortable with is normal. But, I am dumbstruck when some open their mouths and you realize there is nothing between the ears!

As a society and culture, we are facing a high percentage of people whom have no mental ability to succeed. That is not an over generalization, it is a statistic even business is looking at very hard. How can a business succeed when its potential employees are only able to look their best and not actually think or perform a task requiring thought?

Ten years ago, I ran into the female half of that good looking couple. Like all of us, she had aged and I asked her how she and her husband were doing. It really bit at her to tell me her husband had left her for a younger woman. She had gotten crows feet at 31 and his love for her died. Of course, I asked her what she was doing. I was thinking botox, but she had learned her lesson, had gone to college and was now working on a master’s degree. Good for her!

Oh yeah, I was also to run into shallow Hal several months later. He had capped all of his teeth and gone bald….. Still as dumb as a stump.