I'm with you Bob , not trying to insult or cast aspersions on anyone but as " people watchers" we just find the variety of people , shapes , sizes , dress sense ( or lack of it ! ) and hairdo fascinating , right ! A very good friend has a Son and Daughter who are on the Spectrum , Asbergers / ADHD / Autism ...they place somewhere in that realm . The girl is about 21 now and the Boy about 19 and they have very little sense of themselves as Others see Them . They are simply Not aware of the fact that that their hair and often their clothes look like they've been " dragged through a bush backwards " ( my Sister's phrase !! lol ) , got dressed in the dark or ( hopefully Not ) jumped out of bed to flee a fire at 3am !! . If you gently make them aware that they need a little sprucing up to be ready for Prime Time they just shrug and say , OK but still have to be reminded many times before leaving the house , brush your hair ( after they brudhed it twice already !! ) or brush your teeth ....adding , with toothpaste this time or Tie your laces as they walk out with laces trailing on the groud . I pwesonally know a kid ( adult actually ) who had to be reminded of these things at around 30 years old , a computer code professional and very successful at his job . We usually figure these things out when we become self aware , aware of the impression that our personal appearence , hygene , fashion sense etc will cement in the minds of other people . The idea that people are always judging you whether they just pass us on the street of go to dinner with us or work with us . In this life first impressions are very important ....unless you are filthy rich , in which case you really don't have to give a shit !!! For the rest of us our initial appearence and demeanour instills a mental image in the mind of the Other person , calculating what social class we belong to , what education we've had , what kind of house or neighborhood we live in , what kinds of food we eat , maybe our religious inclinations . Whether we like it or not if we are honest we all do this , it's in our DNA . We assess the Other and mentally place the Other person above us , below us or on a level playing field with us ...if we are being generous , we categorize everyone we meet and many people we do not know and will never know , we just pass them on the street .
Lessons must be learned about appearences and how we categorize people in daily life and some people are just not equipped to play this game of social chess . A guy I used to manage apt buildings for in San Francisco used to come by to pick up the quarters from the washers and dryers for the building ( 60 units in Pacific Heights SF ..".upper crust " area generally . If you met this guy on the street you would give him a dollar because he looked like a bit of a Bum , he drove a 20 year old car and he was worth probably 20 million bucks , he and partners owned ( own ) many multi unit buildings in SF . To see the guy you would not thing he had the price of a cup of coffee !!! He was Not a nice person but he would evoke empathy if you saw him walking down the street , based on his appearence alone . Then there was the construction guy I once knew who brought a briefcase to work and changed from his very nice street clothes into his carpenter uniform , dirty jeans and tshirt every morning . The briefcase contained his sandwich and a coke for lunch . If you stood beside him on the bus home he would be a different person altogether ...would Appear to be ! My boss , the building owner may not have wanted to be identified as a person to whom tenants could complain , remaining anonymous but he always looked this way so I think that looks did not even occur to him , other people's opinion meant nothing to him .
I have a few things to add but I'll be back ...the hot sun , the deck and a ham sandwich are calling my name .
Later Dudes and Dudettes ....Eamon . ( above are my Opinions and opinions are like assholes , everyone has one and often they are full of shit !!! lol , you be the judge ) . Stay safe from the Plague Y'all ...it is rearing it's ugly head again in many places .