The Cinderella Complex
Posted by admin | Filed under Thoughtful Rant
Have you ever met someone who seemed too good to be true? A little too sweet? A little too pure? Doesn’t use sarcasm? Has cartoon squirrels, bunnies, and birds perched on her/his shoulders?
I have met some people who seem nice and may even be sincere, but seem just a little too nice and perfect. It makes me uncomfortable and it makes me feel guilty for thinking they are full of crap (as their outward appearance, bunnies and all, is seemingly nice and charming). Am I so jaded that I can’t get over their super-sweet facade to see that they could be ‘for real’? I suppose this is all based on my theory that everyone has flaws, a bad day, etc. and can’t possibly like everyone and everything all the time. I’d like to think I have good instincts for discerning a person’s true nature; but some people I simply cannot fathom. My realist side says they are probably faking it, though their motivation makes this either a sinister or polite gesture. Or is it possible? Could this be the long lost human component of the old-school Disney movies?
Don’t get me wrong, I have met other people who are ridiculously nice and are believable (thank goodness for these people). Conversely, I have also met people that have a very obvious “transparent niceness” (as my husband calls it), where you can see the fangs just beyond the smile. Its this third category that always leaves me a bit uneasy.
I want to be a nice person and believe it, but I just can’t get there. For now, I just tread lightly and try to be super nice back to these people (even though they make me feel like Cruella DaVille by comparison). Also, I don’t trust people who don’t use/get humor. I used to have an optometrist (Dr.Crazy Eyes…that’s another story) who was always super serious. It made me nervous. I was so uncomfortable with him and he didn’t laugh or smile. Maybe he was a robot? I changed doctors; the new guy is great. He was concerned about an ongoing ocular issue, I told him I’d “keep an eye on it.” He smirked. Now that’s more like it.
One Response to “The Cinderella Complex”
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gayle Says:
November 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pmPeople who are too nice freak me out, too. I do know people who are this way, but I prefer to be close friends with people who have rough edges like me, let out a curse every now and then, don’t always say the right things, and just act like themselves, because if someone else doesn’t act like themselves, how can I?
