Self-Awareness

I had a female friend at work with whom I spent quite a bit of time. We used to laugh and joke and fool around but we had recurring conversations. One of them was "do ugly people know they are ugly".

Of course, at that point, it was standard practice to discuss the the people we knew who weren't blessed in the looks department and try to determine whether they had enough self-awareness to know the truth. It seemed like harmless fun at the time and I was certainly younger in those days. Know when I think about it, I feel a little bit bad about the laughing and giggling. These days, I can see something attractive in most people and I'm a lot more forgiving but the question is still valid.

• Do ugly people know that they are ugly?
• Do stupid people know that they are stupid?
• Do chavs know that they are chavs?

I suspect that the answer isn't straightforward. Ugly men probably think they still possess some kind of stud-like quality whereas some good looking women probably thing they look like the back end of a bus. Or at least, their public proclamations would suggest that this is true, but deep down, is their self-awareness veering towards accuracy?

The problem is... it's difficult to ask and ugly person if they know that they are ugly (without being rude about it). It's also difficult to ask a chav if they know they are a chav - although there are maybe some chavs who have aspired to chavness for many a year.

I've been thinking about myself recently and have come to the following conclusions:
- I'm unlikely to play football professionally (I am 38 now)
- I'm unlikely to become an astronaut
- I'm better in the work environment than at home (I'm Mr. Decisive at work and Mr. Procrastinator at home)
- I don't scratch surfaces. When I thrown myself into something - I go for it big time. I can't join a sports club! I want to play, coach and run the committee!
- I'm overweight and would like to shed 40lbs. Clever ideas welcome
- I'm useless at dressing myself. Actually, I can dress, but I can't organise my wardrobe. I need a personal shopper.
- I'm getting grumpier as I get older. Grumpier and less tolerant of idiots. However, I really enjoy helping people improve themselves!
- I love the theatre and bore easily in the cinema. Theatre beats cinema; Painting beats prints; Live bands beat CDs; etc.
- I will never be able to play the guitar the way I want. I can play "Streets of London" and "House of the Rising Sun" quite well, but I'm terrible at practising.