Last July, I went through phase one of my “Jason makeover.”  At that point, I had lost about 70 pounds, and decided it was time to update a few things.  Like replacing my ancient glasses with contacts and morphing the boring side-part hairstyle I had since the seventh grade into a stylist-recommended contemporary style complete with highlights and “product.”

After that little excursion into image enhancement, I purchased new sunglasses at one of those little mall kiosks.  I joked with folks at work the following day that the girl behind the sunglasses counter was much more pleasant and engaged with the “newer, sexier” Jason than she would have been with fat, frumpy Jason.  And, in truth, now that I’m down about 110 pounds from January 2005, the reaction of strangers to me has been noticeably different than it was in, say, 2004.  I get more smiles, for example, and more people than I remember will look me in the eye as I pass them in public places.

And now, I notice another change.  I am no longer in the habit of eating three or four meals a day at fast-food establishments, but I do often head to the drive-through to purchase a refreshing beverage.  And since I’ve upgraded from the Kia to the Jeep, the reaction of others has apparently changed yet again.  Twice now, the window clerk (including, happily, a hot young girl) even chatted at length with me — something that NEVER happened before.

Yes, people are superficial.  I guess I just never realized the extent of it before.  The way people treated 270-pound, unstylish Jason driving a messy Kia is noticeably different from the way they treat 160-pound, more image-conscious Jason driving a clean Jeep.  Fascinating.