The Reflection

What prompted this short story was when my friend Tom and I were discussing how our looks have changed over the last 50 plus years.

I was walking past a shop window and I sneaked a look at the reflection. I saw someone there, but I did not recognize the figure. After a few seconds of just standing there staring at the window, I was forced to make again, my own acquaintance! Why is it that us older fellows no longer know ourselves at first sight?

I thought I still looked like I did 20 or so years ago and I assumed it was the real me. We kid ourselves, don’t we?

I told my wife about the reflection in the window and she just said, I was deceiving myself with my vivid imagination. I guess in our mind’s eye we just don’t see ourselves as others see us and we don’t want to!

When I shave in front of the mirror in the morning, I’m not shocked by my reflection. Why is that?

My wife says, that’s because I’m on autopilot in the morning.

This whole reflection thing has now triggered a sort of “identity crisis” between my ears. Who am I really?

Am I the person in my imagination or the person in the shop window?

I would hope I could always think I was 20 years younger in my mind.

But then, I’d just worry about WHY a young stud like me has got failing

eyesight, hearing, and falling hair!

5 thoughts on “The Reflection

  1. I know the answer to this one! When we look at ourselves in the mirror at home we tend to pose: eyebrows and jowls raised, chip up. AND we only see ourselves from the midpoint up. For a dose of reality, add a full length mirror somewhere where you’ll be least expecting it.

  2. Dave, I think you came up with the real reason Dracula didn’t have mirrors in his castle. After all he’s alot older. As for myself I try to only use my cars rear view mirror when I’m not on auto pilot in the morning.
    LLC Jim

  3. I think from now on I will just look at myself in the sideview mirror on the car. You know, the one that makes everything look smaller. It also makes it look further away. Like out of sight. Look, I’m disappeaarrrinnnnggggggg………………..

  4. I find that squinting when looking in the full length mirror is very helpful to my ego. What you don’t see, you don’t have.

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