Ahhhh, to be ghetto-fabulous. I know a lot of ppl use this term, applying it to others, but I think it’s over-used & not in the proper way. Now, yesterday, I can honestly say that I felt ghetto-fabulous.

I had just gotten these new Liz Clay wedges. Now, wait, give me a min to explain. These are not part of the ghetto-fabulosity. BUT, in getting these new sandals, I carried myself a little higher, & there was a slight sash-shay to my walk.

So, during my lunch hour, when it’s nice outside, I like to stroll around. So, I walk up one street & down the other, to this area where there are a few granite benches to sit, eat my lunch there, & eventually drag myself back to work. Now, I should add here that I don’t work in a shady neighborhood or anything like that, buuuut, if you go down a couple of blocks, you’re instantly in the inner-city. I’m talking hard-core, drive-by shooting, 2 arsons killing 8 kids in the last 2 months inner city. Our PR department is pretty good about drawing attention away from that though.

So, I was strolling back to the building, as slowly as I could, b/c I really was in no hurry to get back. I saw a shuttle bus go by me. No biggie, right? These shuttles go by all the time. Well, 4 mins later, it comes back from behind me. It had turned around, & is now going in the same direction as I am. It stops, & the driver opens the door, & says something to me. I have pretty bad hearing (plus the bus was loud), so I’m assuming what he said was something to the effect of “hop on, do you need a ride?”. I heard a combination of a few of those words. I just said ‘no thank you, I’m enjoying the day, & I’d like to just walk’. He then tipped his hat (no, not kidding, Clevelanders are ‘hat-tippin’ folk, not many ppl realize this), closed the door, & drove off. Now, keep in mind that I was in the middle of a street, walking along. I know there’s a stop on the street just before, & just after, but not on this particular street in between them. Yeah, the word you’re lookin for is ‘ghetto-fabulous’.

Now, pair that w/ a few hours later, I get off of work, & stop at the corner store to pick up a couple of things. I hand the clerk a 20. And what does she do?!? She pulls out one of those ‘counterfeit money markers’ & checks the damn bill! Now, I shop here all the time (it’s just down the street from my house), have always used cash (they don’t take credit/debit), & have had her check me out before. I’ve never had her pull out “the marker” on me though! So, I’m attributing it to how ghetto-fabulous I looked yesterday.

Obviously, the bus driver liked my ghetto-fabulushness, while the woman (who should’ve recognized me) in my own neighborhood did most def did NOT.

UPDATE: Looking back & re-reading what I’d written, I can see how it may come off a little superficial, but that’s not really how I had meant it. It was just a weird day, & that whole experience of the day kept going round & round in my mind. It was kinda unsettling to me. I was bothered that in one part of town, I was offered a favor, & I was looked down upon in another. All b/c of the way I was dressed & carrying myself; mind you, I wasn’t dressed trashy or anything. But simply based on appearance, one person was being kind to me, & another looked disgusted at me.

Then, one of my closest friends posted about how stupid all these clichéd sayings are. And she’s right, they are. And I started thinking about the whole “beauty being only skin deep”, but that’s not how we treat each other. We treat pretty ppl much better than ordinary or ‘not-so-pretty’ ppl. Cause most days I look normal, I just happened to have looked a tad bit nicer that one day.