- Q & A
Dear Dr H,
Wandering the streets of Bowral the other day, I encountered a – well, no other way to put it – shoddily dressed woman, sans makeup, sans hair style, and not a bit of linen to be seen about her person. To say I was taken aback might be something of an understatement. My question is this: what is one to do in such a circumstance? Should I have pretended I hadn’t seen this person? Or should I have approached and offered some friendly style tips (drawing her attention to the absence of shoddiness in all the folk around her)? Or perhaps I should have assumed she’d fallen on hard times and offered a small sum to help her get back to the salon?
Yours,
Flustered.
Dear F,
I understand the upset upon encountering anything uncouth on the streets of Bowral. After all, Bowral is, if nothing else, couth.
What to do?
I think the only possible thing you can do here is ignore what you can’t fix, but stay alert and on guard against scrappiness creep in general: it starts with letting the roots grow out, moves on to lack of accessorisation, next to odd socks, perhaps, or hairy legs, or even the walking of a dog of no certain breed … you get the idea. Anyhow, whichever way it manifests at first, I can tell you that it ends with bare feet and no bra.
Sorry to shock, but these things do happen out there.
Stay strong, focused and determined in your own commitment to good grooming and pray that the town at large continues to do the same – making a sort of forcefield against any further incoming frumps.
Oh, and be sure not to forget to wax between your toes.
Dr H
