Shouldn't…but Do

Macy’s cosmetics department –  just passing through.

Expensive packages, softly lit counters, flattering mirrors, wonderful colours.  I used to linger in places like this.  Money being what it is, I do no more.

Even mid-day weekend, too many well-coiffed, immaculately made-up saleswomen stand waiting to serve other women.  Like a hair salon, it is a land, a terrain, all its own.

Breezing through I notice now the paint, the carefully applied concoctions, the compulsion toward a culturally decided definition of beauty.  The placards, the displays,  even some of these  women appear harsh in application of product.

I can no longer afford these places, or the neighboring ones that hint of glittering holiday wear – terrain that once was mine.  How I would love to feel pretty again this holiday season, just once.  It has been many years.

But I do not lack for the most hard-won accessory, the priceless facial component least evidenced in this land – a simple smile.