Chasing After The Perfect Appearance

Who wouldn’t wish to stay young forever and preferably without any wrinkles at all?! Our appearance is very important. This is the first thing you look at when you meet someone for the first time. Still, from my point of view, some people take it too far. They spend most of their time and money on how they look. They become obsessive about it and frequently have plastic surgery.

It is normal not to like everything about our appearance and to even make small changes which will make us feel good about ourselves. But people need to know when to put a stop to it in order not to go overboard and look ridiculous.

There are risks involved with cosmetic surgery like with any intrusive procedure. The patient undergoes surgery completely healthy (at least physically), but doesn’t necessarily come out of it in the same condition. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the age of people who undergo cosmetic procedures has declined in recent years. Some of them are under the age of 14. I wonder, where are their parents?  Why don’t they prevent it? Obviously, I am not talking about essential surgeries. In fact, under a certain age, the patient must receive their parent’s approval for any surgical procedure.

However, a few days ago I saw a documentary about people who had cosmetic surgery. Some of them were really young and were accompanied by their parents who encouraged them to have the procedure. I should mention that most of the patients were teenage girls. Some of them wanted breast enlargement, while others wanted a breast reduction. As well, quite a few wished to undergo liposuction, which is a very popular procedure among youth today. From what I saw, another popular procedure is having the nose re-shaped. They go through these processes in order to have a modeling career or to improve their self-confidence. Sometimes they want to look like the celebrities they admire. When I watched the documentary, it frequently looked like those parents who escorted their children are fulfilling their dreams through them. I am not an expert, but aren’t they still developing?!

Anyway, several years ago I met this woman at the gym who was a little chubby. After countless attempts at losing weight, she decided to undergo liposuction. As far as I remember, she had it on her stomach, and after the surgery, her stomach area was bruised and swollen. It took her some time to recover but she was pleased with the results. After a while she underwent liposuction on her thighs. This was just the beginning. I always thought she looked good the way she was, but apparently it wasn’t enough for her.

From time to time she would disappear for a while and when she came back, we found out she had a breast enlargement, Later on, she had a nose job. What can I say, the woman kept her plastic surgeon busy…… 🙂 She used to work just to pay for all her cosmetic surgery. She was lucky she was married so her husband could pay the rest of the expenses…. 🙂

Anyhow, at some point she stopped attending the gym, and the connection between us slowly faded away. A few years ago I was in the States on vacation and I went to a mall to buy some clothes. When I stood at the cashier, I felt I was being looked at by the woman who stood in the line next to me. I glanced at her but she looked away. The woman called my name just as I was leaving. We looked at each other and she asked how I was doing. I was embarrassed as I didn’t recognize her until she reminded me who she was. My embarrassment turned to shock….I thought to myself, what the hell has she done to herself?

When she noticed the expression on my face she said “I know I look a little different as I had a few small cosmetic treatments…… Do I look younger, or what?!”  I stared at her and felt sorry for her and didn’t know what to say. Her face looked frozen…. I’m trying to describe what I saw…..and the only thing that comes to mind is the woman looked like a stuffed animal…….. The sad part is that she wasn’t even aware of it.